oninr  OF 


DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 


REV.  JEROME  D.  DAVIS,   D.D. 


DAVIS 
SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

A  BIOGRAPHY  OF  REV.  JEROME  D.  DAVIS,  D.D.,  LIEUT- 
COLONEL  OF  VOLUNTEERS  AND  FOR  THIRTY-NINE 
YEARS  A  MISSIONARY  OF  THE  AMERICAN 
BOARD  OF  COMMISSIONERS  FOR 
FOREIGN  MISSIONS  IN 
JAPAN 


BY 
J.  MERLE  DAVIS,  M.A.,  B.D. 

SECRETARY    OF   THE    INTERNATIONAL    COMMITTEE    OF   YOUNG   MEN*S 
CHRISTIAN    ASSOCIATIONS,    TOKYO,    JAPAN 


THE    PILGRIM    PRESS 

BOSTON  CHICAGO 


COPYRIGHT  1916 
BY  J.  MERLE  DAVIS 


THE    PILGRIM    PRESS 
BOSTON 


FOREWORD 

Sir  Sidney  Lee,  in  his  "  Principles  of  Biography,"  states 
that  the  test  of  the  worthiness  of  a  life  for  perpetuation 
is,  "  did  this  man  render  a  unique  service,  which,  had  he 
not  lived,  would  not  have  been  performed?" 

The  test  is  a  difficult  one  for  a  son  to  make  for  his 
father,  and,  in  this  case,  has  been  left  to  those  who  knew 
him  best  as  fellow-missionary,  as  well  as  to  world-wide 
critics  of  missions. 

Shortly  after  his  death,  Dr.  Davis'  closest  colleagues, 
notably,  Dr.  D.  L.  Learned  and  Dr.  D.  C.  Greene,  urged 
that  his  biography  should  be  written.  Secretary  James  L. 
Barton,  of  the  American  Board,  and  Dr.  John  R.  Mott,  of 
the  International  Committee  of  Young  Men's  Christian 
Associations,  reinforced  this  opinion  with  their  judgment 
that  the  story  of  my  father's  life  should  be  told,  as  con- 
stituting an  essential  link  in  the  development  of  the  King- 
dom of  God  in  Japan,  and  they  have  steadily  encouraged 
me  in  my  task. 

Special  acknowledgment  is  due  to  the  secretaries  of  the 
American  Board  for  placing  at  my  disposal  its  library  and 
archives  with  the  thirty-nine  years  of  my  father's  cor- 
respondence with  the  Board;  to  his  comrades  of  the  Fifty- 
second  Illinois  Vol.  Inf.  regiment,  for  their  generous  re- 
sponse in  material  bearing  upon  his  military  life ;  to  his 
college  and  seminary  classmates,  for  intimate  pictures  of 
his  student  life;  to  his  missionary  colleagues  and  Japanese 
friends  and  pupils,  whose  characterizations  of  him  in 
varied  relationships  have  placed  me  permanently  in  their 
debt;  to  the  International  Committee,  for  its  kindness  in 
allowing  me  special  facilities  for  visiting  the  battle-fields  of 
Shiloh  and  Corinth,  and  for  granting  the  necessary  time 


85570744 


FOREWORD 

for  writing;  to  Drs.  Learned  and  Gary  and  Professor 
Lombard,  of  Kyoto,  whose  intimate  acquaintance  with  my 
father  and  his  work  have  rendered  them  invaluable  critics 
and  counsellors;  and,  finally,  to  my  wife,  whose  steady  en- 
couragement and  help  have  been  large  factors  in  the  suc- 
cessful completion  of  the  work. 

My  father's  full  diary,  with  valuable  collections  of  letters 
and  manuscripts  bearing  upon  the  history  of  the  Doshisha, 
the  American  Board  Mission  in  Japan  and  the  Kumi-ai 
(Congregational)  Church,  has  been  freely  used  as  the  back- 
bone of  the  story. 

I  have  tried  to  depict  my  father's  part  in  the  dramatic 
history  of  the  early  years,  by  letting  him  tell  his  own  story 
of  the  controversies  and  troublous  problems  in  which  he 
not  infrequently  played  a  leading  part.  On  the  other 
hand,  I  have,  so  far  as  possible,  presented  an  impartial 
statement  of  facts,  irrespective  of  his  prejudices  and  be- 
liefs, which,  with  the  added  light  of  half  a  generation,  re- 
veal certain  vexatious  questions  of  relationship  in  a  juster 
form. 

My  father's  military  record  has  been  given  a  full  treat- 
ment, because  of  the  vital  connection  which  this  phase  of 
his  preparation  had  with  his  acceptability  to  the  Japanese 
and  with  fitting  him  for  meeting  his  most  difficult  tasks. 

The  work  has  been  accomplished  at  odd  moments,  in 
the  midst  of  constant  distractions  and  the  press  of  many 
other  duties,  but  such  difficulties  as  have  been  met  with 
have  been  far  outweighed  by  the  privilege  of  making  a 
detailed  study  of  my  father's  life,  —  its  sources  of  power, 
its  valleys  of  defeat  and  its  heights  of  victory. 

If  these  pages  reveal  to  others  something  of  the  charm 
of  his  manhood,  the  strength  of  his  faith,  the  springs  of 
his  martial  achievement  and  his  spiritual  power,  so  as  to 
impel  them  to  similar  ideals  of  service,  the  highest  wish  of 
the  writer  will  have  been  attained. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.  Ancestry,  Birth  and  Childhood 1 

II.  The  Forging  of  the  Blade 9 

III.  Beloit  College 17 

IV.  The  Long  Roll 24 

V.  The  Battle  of  Shiloh 32 

VI.  On  General  Sweeny's  Staff 50 

VII.  The  Boy  Colonel 73 

VIII.  Student  Life  Again 88 

IX.  The  Hardest  Field 102 

X.  First  Years  in  Japan 118 

XI.  The  Founding  of  the  Doshisha 137 

XII.  Moving  Mountains  into  the  Sea 159 

XIII.  The  Upper  and  Nether  Millstones 178 

XIV.  The  Acorn  Splits  the  Bottle 197 

XV.  Reaction 215 

XVI.  The  Struggle  for  the  Doshisha 239 

XVII.  "  Reconstruction  " 259 

XVIII.  Fields  White  to  the  Harvest 270 

XIX.  Personal  Evangelism 284 

XX.  The  All-around  Missionary 293 

XXI.  Relationships 310 

XXII.  Relationships:  His  Mission  Colleagues 316 

XXIII.  Relationships:   His  Family 325 

XXIV.  Last  Years..                                                          ,  334 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 
Rev.  Jerome  D.  Davis,  D.  D.  Frontispiece 

Facing  page 

Shiloh  Church 32 

J.  H.  Neesima 138 

The  Pacific  Hall,  Doshisha  Girls'  School 170 

Theological  Class,  Kioto,  June,  1881 198 

The  Science  Hall,  Doshisha 218 

Dr.  Davis  at  the  Grave  of  Neesima 264 

Rev.  Tasuku  Harada .  342 


THE  LIFE  OF  JEROME  DEAN  DAVIS 


CHAPTER  I 
THE  LIFE  OF  JEROME  DEAN  DAVIS 

Ancestry,  Birth  and  Childhood 

THE  two  families  represented  in  the  person  of  Jerome 
Dean  Davis  trace  their  origin  to  the  early  days  of 
New  England  history.  They  migrated  from  Eng- 
land and  Wales  in  the  seventeenth  century,  John  Wood- 
bury  settling  on  the  north  shore  of  Massachusetts  Bay  in 
1623,  and  Isaac  Davis  finding  his  new  home  on  the  sand 
dunes  of  Cape  Cod,  some  seventy  years  later. 

John  Woodbury,  the  founder  of  the  American  family  of 
that  name,  left  his  father's  estate  in  Somersetshire  in  1623, 
as  a  member  of  the  Dorchester  Company,  and  arrived  in 
the  summer  of  the  same  year  upon  the  Massachusetts 
coast.  Three  years  later  he  entered  the  Massachusetts 
Bay  Company  and  helped  to  found  the  town  of  Salem. 
In  1627  he  was  sent  to  England  as  the  Envoy  of  the 
Company  to  negotiate  the  Letters  Patent  which  secured 
the  new  enterprise  to  the  colonists.  As  a  member  of 
Governor  Endicott's  Council,  Deputy  to  the  Colonial 
Court  and  Lord  High  Constable  of  the  Colony,  he  enjoyed 
the  confidence  and  esteem  of  the  whole  Massachusetts 
Bay  Settlement.  As  official  Surveyor  to  the  Colonial 
Government  he  had  charge  of  the  laying  out  of  Lynn, 
Revere  and  Salem,  while  parts  of  Cambridge  and  the 
campus  of  Harvard  College  were  staked  out  by  him.  In 
recognition  of  his  public  services,  the  town  of  Salem  gave 
him,  in  1632,  two  hundred  acres  of  land  in  the  new  parish 
of  Beverly,  of  which  he  became  the  first  settler. 

John  Woodbury 's  great-grandson,  Benjamin,  moved  to 
Sutton,  Massachusetts,  in  1734.  Here,  seventy  years  later, 

I 


2  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

Jerome  Davis'  mother  was  born  in  the  family  of  Benjamin's 
grandson,  Captain  John  Woodbury,  who  served  with  distinc- 
tion in  the  Sutton  regiment  through  the  Revolutionary  War. 

The  Woodbury  family  records  are  full  of  military,  naval 
and  political  leaders.  A  Lieutenant  Woodbury  was  an 
aide  to  General  Wolfe  before  Quebec.  Another  Woodbury, 
a  midshipman  on  the  U.  S.  S.  "  Constitution,"  lost  his 
thumb  on  the  wheel  of  that  frigate  while  steering  her  into 
action  with  the  British  "  Guerriere  "  in  the  War  of  1812. 
A  great  uncle  of  Jerome  Davis  was  one  of  the  first  gover- 
nors of  Vermont,  while  a  cousin  of  his  mother,  Senator 
Levi  Woodbury,  served  as  Secretary  of  the  Navy  under 
President  Jackson,  was  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  in 
Van  Buren's  cabinet,  was  elected  Democratic  Governor  of 
New  Hampshire  in  1823,  and  later  served  upon  the  Bench 
of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States. 

The  paternal  ancestry  of  Jerome  Davis  presents  an 
interesting  contrast  to  the  Woodbury s.  The  courage  and 
hardihood  of  sea-faring  men,  weather-beaten  by  genera- 
tions of  combat  with  Cape  Cod  storms,  united  with  blood 
of  sturdy  farming  stock,  was  the  heritage  of  the  Davis 
family.  About  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century  a 
tide  of  migration  set  toward  the  western  frontier  of  the 
Massachusetts  Colony,  and,  in  1760,  Hope  Davis  left 
Cape  Cod  with  his  brother  Isaac  and  began  to  clear  the 
forests  and  build  the  first  frame  houses  on  the  site  of  the 
modern  town  of  Lee,  in  the  Housatonic  Valley. 

The  town  records  show  that  these  brothers  took  a  lead- 
ing part  in  overcoming  the  difficulties  of  the  raw  Berk- 
shire Hills,  and  in  contributing  to  the  public  life  of  the 
pioneer  community  that  grew  up  around  them.  Hope 
Davis  was  especially  interested  in  the  spiritual  welfare  of 
his  town  and  was  chairman  of  the  committee  of  citizens 
chosen  to  build  the  first  meeting-house  of  Lee,  at  a  cost  of 
seven  hundred  pounds. 


THE  LIFE  OF  JEROME  DEAN   DAVIS  3 

The  men  of  the  Berkshire  Hills  responded  eagerly  to 
the  call  of  the  provincial  New  England  Assembly  for 
troops  to  expel  the  British  from  Boston.  The  Battle  of 
Lexington  was  scarcely  fought  before  the  farmer  battalions 
of  the  Colonies  began  to  converge  upon  Massachusetts 
Bay.  Hope  Davis'  second  son,  Nathan,  Jerome  Davis' 
grandfather,  was  one  of  the  seventeen  men  of  Lee  who 
marched  in  the  Berkshire  regiment  upon  Boston.  He 
participated  in  the  battles  of  Bunker  Hill,  Bennington  and 
Saratoga  and  fought  for  seven  years  in  the  Continental 
Army. 

Jerome's  father,  Hope,  the  youngest  son  in  a  family  of 
ten  children,  was  born  in  Lee,  in  1796.  Six  years  later  the 
farm  was  ruined  by  the  bursting  of  the  mill-dam  and 
Nathan  Davis  removed  to  the  township  of  Groton,  in 
central  New  York,  to  begin  life  again  in  the  midst  of  the 
wilderness.  Here,  industry  and  frugality  were  rewarded  by 
well-tilled  fields  and  a  comfortable  home.  There  were  few 
educational  advantages,  but  the  public  school  had  migrated 
with  the  pioneers  and  by  steady  application  Jerome's 
father  secured  a  common  school  education.  When  nine- 
teen years  old  he  began  to  teach  and  was  known  as  the 
District  School  teacher  for  nearly  twenty  winters. 

Jerome's  mother,  Brooksy  Woodbury,  whose  ancestry 
we  have  traced,  moved  to  Groton  as  a  child  with  the  family 
of  her  older  brother,  Caleb,  and  became  the  second  wife  of 
Hope  Davis. 

Jerome  Dean  Davis  was  the  third  son  in  a  family  of 
seven  brothers  and  sisters.  In  his  diary,  written  in  mature 
years,  he  says,  "  Our  early  home  was  an  old-fashioned, 
square,  two-storey,  brown  house  in  East  Groton.  Its  huge 
chimney  in  the  center,  its  cheerful  fire-places,  its  well- 
stored  cellar,  its  classic  garret,  and  every  door  and  window 
are  all  indelibly  impressed  upon  my  memory.  In  the 
pleasant  sitting  room  was  a  large  fire-place,  where  a  great 


4  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

back  log  could  be  laid  on,  which  would  last  all  night, 
yielding  a  cheerful  mass  of  glowing  embers  in  the  morning. 
Beside  the  fire-place  was  a  brick  oven  where  bread,  beans 
and  meat  were  baked.  Three  large  rooms  above  and  three 
below  all  had  fire-places  and,  to  crown  all,  there  was  the 
huge  garret  around  the  chimney,  in  whose  weird  recesses 
we  children  could  play  by  the  hour.  There  were  three 
barns  where  we  used  to  jump  in  the  fragrant  hay,  while 
the  homestead  was  surrounded  by  an  abundance  of  fine 
sugar  and  fruit  orchards." 

The  busy  seasons  came  and  went,  each  crowded  with 
its  characteristic  and  homely  tasks,  in  which  each  child 
was  able  to  add  his  small  contribution  toward  the  pros- 
perity of  the  rural  world  of  which  he  was  a  part.  Though 
the  early  acceptance  of  a  man's  burdens  in  the  struggle 
with  the  soil  sobered  and  developed  Jerome,  the  delights 
as  well  as  the  hard  work  of  the  country  boy  were  his. 
He  was  so  fond  of  Nature  and  the  joys  of  life  in  the  open, 
of  plowtime  and  harvest,  of  corn-husking  and  "  sugaring 
off,"  that  the  crowded  events  of  seventy  years  did  not  dim 
the  memories  of  his  childhood.  The  sugar  bush  was  the 
experience  of  the  year  to  which  the  children  looked  forward 
with  greatest  delight,  when  for  ten  days  the  entire  house- 
hold camped  in  the  maple  woods,  tending  the  buckets  and 
boiling  the  sap  night  and  day. 

Jerome's  education  began  at  home,  where  at  the  age  of 
seven  he  earned  his  first  book,  a  New  Testament,  as  a 
reward  for  reading  it  through.  The  following  winter  he 
trudged  off  through  the  snow  to  the  old  schoolhouse,  a 
mile  away,  took  his  seat  on  the  grimed  and  whittled 
benches  and  received  his  initiation  into  the  mysteries  of 
District  School  education  and  the  deeper  mysteries  of 
human  nature  in  the  fifty  scholars  ranged  along  the  hard 
planks  about  him.  At  recess  on  his  first  day  at  school  the 
boys  laid  a  pitfall  for  the  green  youngster,  by  making 


THE  LIFE  OF  JEROME  DEAN  DAVIS  5 

spit-balls  and  throwing  them  against  the  ceiling.  They 
said  that  the  teacher  would  not  see  nor  mind  such  harmless 
fun.  Jerome  determined  to  try  his  hand  at  the  game,  but 
was  cut  short  on  his  first  attempt  by  the  teacher,  who  made 
him  stand  in  deep  disgrace  before  the  whole  school. 

He  was  a  studious  boy,  too  loyal  to  school  authority 
to  join  in  the  pranks  of  his  mates,  who  waged  ceaseless 
warfare  on  the  master;  too  absorbed  in  his  studies  and  too 
conscious  of  the  brevity  of  the  winter's  freedom  from  farm 
work  to  spend  much  time  in  play  or  in  loitering  to  or  from 
school.  At  recess  he  was  often  seen  with  a  book,  sitting 
in  a  quiet  spot,  completely  absorbed  and  content.  In 
spite  of  his  quiet  habits  Jerome  was  liked  by  his  com- 
rades, since  he  was  full  of  fun  and  could  enjoy  a  joke  upon 
himself  as  well  as  on  another.  Moreover,  when  still  a 
young  boy  he  gained  a  reputation  for  courage  by  ac- 
cepting a  dare  to  walk  at  night  through  the  old  graveyard, 
which  the  country  boys  gave  a  wide  berth  after  sunset. 

In  rural  New  York,  in  the  'fifties,  each  pair  of  hands 
was  an  economic  asset  to  the  home  that  few  could  sacrifice 
to  educational  ideals.  The  school  term  lasted  while  snow 
lay  on  the  farms  and  no  longer,  so  that  from  March  until 
December  there  was  little  studying  for  Jerome  and  his 
brothers.  Furthermore,  the  District  School  had  its  limita- 
tions, so  that  by  his  thirteenth  winter  Jerome  had  gone 
over  the  elementary  courses  and  was  hungry  for  something 
new.  He  says,  "  Just  before  I  was  fourteen  years  old,  my 
father  bought  me  an  Algebra.  It  was  a  difficult  one,  — 
1  Davies-Bourdon.'  Although  he  had  taught  school  for 
nineteen  consecutive  winters,  my  father  had  never  seen  an 
Algebra;  neither  had  the  teacher  of  our  District  School, 
nor  any  one  else  within  my  reach.  So  I  went  to  the 
schoolhouse  every  day  and  dug  it  out  alone,  bringing  it 
home  at  night,  and  when  husking  corn  or  paring  apples  in 
the  evening,  I  dug  away  at  my  Algebra.  I  sometimes  spent 


6  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

three  days  and  three  nights  on  a  single  problem,  but  by  the 
middle  of  March  I  had  gone  through  it." 

Jerome  was  always  invincible  in  spelling.  He  later  at- 
tributed this  to  the  "  spelling  down  "  system  of  his  first 
school.  He  says,  "  One  day  I  went  from  the  middle  to  the 
head  of  the  class  on  the  word,  '  resurrection/  and  never 
forgot  how  to  spell  it  afterward."  Among  the  treasures 
saved  from  those  early  days  are  two  faded  little  books, 
received  as  prizes  for  faithful  work,  entitled,  "  The  111- 
Natured  Little  Boy"  and  "The  Renowned  History  of 
Richard  Whittington  and  His  Cat."  The  home  had  a 
few  books  and  one  newspaper,  The  Rural  New  Yorker, 
which  Jerome  used  to  read  through  from  cover  to  cover, 
advertisements  and  all.  When  ten  years  of  age  his  father 
took  him  to  the  District  Library  of  less  than  one  hundred 
books  kept  in  a  little  square  case.  The  sight  of  such  an 
imposing  array  of  volumes  marked  an  era  in  the  boy's 
life,  and  the  happiness  with  which  he  drew  his  first  book, 
with  the  privilege  of  taking  it  home  to  read,  staid  with 
him  through  the  years  as  one  of  the  vivid  memories  of 
childhood.  In  this  library  he  formed  a  life-long  friendship 
with  the  characters  of  Scott,  and  through  the  reading  of 
Fremont's  "  Journals  of  Exploration  in  the  Far  West " 
and  other  books  of  travel,  his  natural  fondness  for  travel 
was  stimulated.  He  often  read,  or  tried  to,  like  Living- 
stone, while  at  work  and  was  chided  for  it.  But  in  spite 
of  the  rigorous  discipline  of  the  household,  the  stern  father 
was  proud  of  the  boy  and  it  is  clear  that  he  furthered 
Jerome's  progress  in  every  way  that  he  felt  consistent  with 
the  welfare  of  the  family  and  farm. 

Jerome's  memories  of  his  mother  are  best  told  in  his  own 
words:  —  "I  remember  my  mother  as  a  tall,  slender 
form,  with  pale  face  and  dark  hair  and  eyes.  When  about 
seven  years  old  I  told  her  a  lie.  She  did  not  punish  me, 
but  took  me  away  to  the  parlor,  all  alone,  and  there  talked 


THE  LIFE  OF  JEROME  DEAN  DAVIS  7 

with  me  and  knelt  down  with  me  and  asked  God  to  for- 
give me  and  make  me  a  good  boy.  This,  so  far  as  I 
remember,  was  my  first  and  last  lie. 

"  One  scene  stands  out,  however,  more  vividly  than  all 
others  during  those  boyhood  days.  My  mother  had  been 
in  poor  health  for  two  years,  but  during  the  spring  after 
my  eighth  birthday,  she  grew  rapidly  worse,  and  finally, 
brain  fever  terminated  her  life  at  the  age  of  forty-one.  I 
well  remember  when  we  all  stood  around  her  bed,  just 
before  her  death,  and  her  words  to  me,  '  Be  a  good  boy, 
Jerome.'  That  evening,  feeling  lonely,  I  went  out  to  the 
barn  where  my  father  was  milking,  and  he  said,  '  Jerome, 
you  have  no  mother  now.  I  don't  know  what  will  be- 
come of  my  children.  I  fear  they  will  all  be  lost.'  Then 
came  the  funeral,  and  the  choir  in  the  high  gallery  sang 
to  the  tune  of  '  Ganges,'  the  hymn, 

'  Lo,  on  a  narrow  neck  of  land 
1  Twixt  two  unbounded  seas  I  stand, 

Yet  how  insensible. 
A  moment's  time,  a  minute's  space, 
Removes  me  to  yon  heavenly  place, 
Or  shuts  me  up  in  Hell.' 

At  the  close,  my  grandmother  lifted  me  up  and  asked 
me  to  touch  the  white  face  and  I  was  startled  at  its  icy 
coldness." 

We  cannot  analyze  the  character  of  Jerome  Davis,  with- 
out full  recognition  of  the  qualities  that  his  mother  gave 
him. 

From  his  hard-working  father  he  received  the  shrewd, 
practical  judgment,  the  resourcefulness  under  new  and 
trying  conditions,  the  determination  and  iron  will  that  had 
marked  the  Davis  family  for  generations  and  made  it 
typical  of  the  stalwart,  indomitable  spirit  of  the  American 
pioneer.  It  was  the  mother,  however,  who  kindled  in  her 


8  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

boy  those  spiritual  qualities,  which  uniting  with  the  stal- 
wart nature  of  the  father,  created  the  soldier  missionary  of 
later  years.  From  his  mother  came  that  sensitiveness  to 
the  suffering  and  rights  of  others,  that  unusual  capacity  for 
sympathy  and  quick  intuition,  which  made  him  all  his  life 
a  valued  counsellor  and  friend.  His  mother  gave  him,  too, 
the  capacity  for  religious  faith,  the  appreciation  of  the 
unseen  realities  of  the  spiritual  world  that  glorified  his  life 
as  a  missionary.  It  was  his  mother  to  whom  he  owed  the 
artistic  side  of  his  nature,  the  chivalry,  ambition  and  broad 
interest  in  men  and  affairs.  And,  finally,  it  was  the  moral 
courage  of  the  Woodbury  line  of  military  men,  united  to 
the  physical  hardihood  of  the  Davis  stock,  that  fixed  in  him 
those  heroic  fighting  qualities  which  characterized  him  in 
every  relationship  in  which  he  stood. 


CHAPTER  II 
THE  FORGING  OF  THE  BLADE 

THE  years  following  the  mother's  death  were  heavy 
years  in  the  Davis  home.  The  father's  third  mar- 
riage was  not  a  success  and  the  family  was  gradually 
involved  in  debt.  This  period  of  unhappy  home  condi- 
tions and  family  trouble  supplied  the  influences  that  led  to 
Jerome's  conversion.  He  was  not  yet  fourteen,  but  his 
environment  was  rapidly  maturing  him.  "  Until  I  was 
thirteen  I  had  no  very  serious  religious  impressions.  After 
my  mother's  death  I  gave  up  the  habit  of  prayer.  That 
fall  everything  looked  dark  and  the  difficulties  in  our 
home  reached  a  climax.  My  mind  was  filled  with  gloomy 
thoughts  and  I  was  impressed  with  the  fact  that  I  could 
find  happiness  only  in  Christ.  I  seemed  to  hear  an  inner 
voice  saying,  '  Unless  you  become  a  Christian  now,  you 
never  will.'  But  I  resisted  again  and  again  and  each  time 
the  conviction  returned,  sometimes  so  vividly  that  I  could 
not  sleep.  At  length,  in  November,  our  father  took  the 
little  sister  away  to  live  with  an  aunt  and  was  absent  three 
days.  It  was  one  of  those  cold,  rainy  days  that  I  was 
alone  in  the  barn,  husking  corn,  when  these  convictions 
came  to  me  with  astonishing  power;  again  I  resisted  and 
again  and  again  they  returned,  each  time  stronger  than 
before,  until  I  felt  that  unless  I  yielded  then  I  should  be 
forever  lost.  At  last  with  a  force  of  will  the  strongest 
that  I  had  ever  put  forth,  I  compelled  myself  to  kneel 
down  and  ask  God  to  forgive  me  and  Christ  to  save  me. 
This  brought  relief.  Up  to  this  time  I  had  not  said  a 
word  to  any  one  about  my  feelings,  and  no  one  had  spoken 
to  me  for  years  about  being  a  Christian.  When  my  father 

9 


10  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

returned  I  told  him  and  he  was  quite  overcome  with 
emotion. 

41  The  next  Thursday  at  the  church  prayer  meeting,  I 
timidly  stood  up  and  told  my  determination  and  asked 
their  prayers,  but  I  did  not  find  a  settled  joy  at  once. 
I  expected  a  great  and  instantaneous  change,  which  did 
not  come.  Then,  too,  I  sometimes  yielded  to  my  quick 
temper,  when  everything  would  turn  dark  and  I  would  fear 
that  I  was  not  a  Christian  and  after  much  discouragement 
I  would  go  to  Christ  again  and  find  peace  and  pardon. 
Finally,  I  decided  that  I  would  do  my  duty  as  a  Christian, 
anyway,  saved  or  unsaved,  and  leave  the  result  with  God, 
and  then  I  began  to  find  a  settled  peace." 

These  months  of  religious  struggle  were  the  determining 
experience  of  his  life.  In  giving  himself  to  God  he  loyally 
yielded  his  whole  life.  If  he  were  God's  child,  then  he  must 
work  for  Him;  the  relationship  was  as  clear  and  the  obliga- 
tion as  binding  as  in  the  case  of  his  earthly  parent.  Every 
fibre  of  his  intense  and  conscientious  nature  responded  to 
the  demands  of  this  new  relationship,  to  which  he  began  to 
adjust  himself,  and  the  aim  of  his  life,  "  How  can  I  make  my 
life  count  for  the  most  for  God  and  for  men,"  was  born. 
These  words  reveal  the  dynamic  power  that  impelled  his 
life  for  fifty-nine  years,  and  to  which,  more  than  all  other 
influences,  may  be  attributed  his  success. 

Before  uniting  with  the  Groton  Church,  Jerome  visited 
the  pastor,  Rev.  S.  T.  Kidder,  who  talked  and  prayed  with 
him  regarding  the  step  he  proposed  to  take.  One  February 
afternoon,  as  the  spring  twilight  was  deepening  on  Groton 
Church  Hill,  a  knock  came  at  the  door  of  the  room  where 
the  deacons  were  met  with  the  pastor  to  discuss  candidates 
for  baptism.  The  door  was  pushed  open  and  for  a  moment, 
an  awkward,  homespun  clad  figure  stood  outlined  against  the 
western  sky.  With  cap  held  in  fingers  that  trembled,  Jerome 
stated  that  he  was  a  candidate  for  admission  to  the  Church. 


THE  FORGING  OF  THE  BLADE  11 

At  that  time  child  members  were  rare  and  it  was  a 
question  whether  the  admission  of  a  boy  scarcely  in  his 
"  teens  "  should  be  permitted.  However,  he  had  reasoned 
out  his  position  and  his  clear  answers  to  their  questionings 
convinced  the  deacons  of  the  genuineness  and  grasp  of  the 
boy's  belief. 

"  I  shall  never  forget  that  Spring  Sabbath,  six  months 
after  my  decision,  when  I  went  up  alone  in  the  middle 
aisle  of  the  church,  with  a  row  of  boys  in  the  gallery 
looking  down  at  me,  as  I  publicly  assented  to  the  creed 
and  entered  into  covenant  with  the  Church,"  With  the 
row  of  boys  in  the  gallery  he  now  found  less  and  less  in 
common;  the  family  troubles,  his  natural  taste  for  study 
and  his  rather  extraordinary  step  of  church  membership 
tended  to  isolate  him  from  the  lads  who  overran  the 
countryside  with  their  pranks.  However,  Jerome  had  the 
capacity  for  making  and  keeping  friends,  and  as  opportuni- 
ties for  play  offered  themselves  he  entered  heartily  into 
them;  but  more  than  is  the  case  with  the  average  boy, 
he  was  able  to  hold  himself  steadily  to  hard  mental  and 
physical  tasks,  with  eyes  fixed  upon  his  chosen  goal  of 
efficiency  and  service.  This  enabled  him  to  endure  drudg- 
ery while  other  boys  were  playing  and  loafing. 

He  inherited  a  sensitive,  affectionate  nature  from  his 
mother,  and  after  her  death  was  led  to  hide  his  emotions 
and  to  develop  a  stoicism  of  face  and  demeanor  that  con- 
cealed the  currents  of  feeling  that  often  surged  in  his  heart. 
These  years  of  conflict  with  environment  are  responsible 
for  the  habit  of  repression,  expressed  in  set  jaw  and  re- 
serve of  manner  which  clung  to  him  and  against  which  he 
struggled  in  later  years. 

In  the  winter  of  1853,  matters  in  the  home  reached  a 
climax  where  a  separation  became  inevitable.  Hope  Davis 
sold  his  farm  and  turned  toward  the  western  frontier, 
as  his  forefathers  had  three  times  done  before  him,  to 


12  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

begin  life  under  more  favorable  conditions  in  northern 
Illinois. 

Upon  the  close  of  the  Blackhawk  Indian  War,  the  Fox 
River  Valley  had  been  settled  by  groups  of  New  England 
pioneers,  and  to  one  of  these  new  communities  in  the 
northeastern  corner  of  the  state,  the  family  made  its  way. 
The  journey  from  central  New  York  to  northern  Illinois 
occupied  four  days  and  nights  and  was  Jerome's  first 
glimpse  of  a  steam  railroad  or  of  the  outside  world.  Of 
it  he  recorded,  "  Chicago  is  a  city  of  50,000  people  and  is 
undergoing  the  state  of  being  lifted  out  of  the  mud.  The 
sidewalks  are  constantly  going  up  and  down  stairs,  as 
some  buildings  are  not  yet  lifted  at  all  and  others  have 
been  raised  ten  feet." 

Dundee,  a  village  of  six  hundred  inhabitants,  was  typical 
of  the  new  settlements  of  the  Middle  West.  A  neighborli- 
ness,  amounting  almost  to  intimacy,  pervaded  the  com- 
munity. Many  of  the  settlers  had  been  friends  in  the 
East  before  migrating,  while  the  hardships  of  the  pioneer, 
the  stimulus  of  overcoming  the  difficulties  of  a  new  country 
and  the  joy  of  helping  to  lay  the  foundations  of  a  common- 
wealth, shared  in  alike  by  every  household,  tended  to 
create  an  atmosphere  charged  with  patriotism,  energy  and 
intellectual  and  physical  incentive.  The  spirit  of  alertness, 
of  achievement  and  of  perseverance  was  in  the  air,  and 
sluggish  must  have  been  the  blood  of  him  who  failed  to 
respond. 

Under  such  stimulating  conditions  it  did  not  take  the 
newcomers  long  to  feel  at  home.  They  soon  fitted  into  an 
honest  share  of  the  life  of  the  town;  the  father  cultivated 
his  farm:  the  sons  worked  at  the  carpentry  trade  and 
taught  school.  The  first  memory  of  an  old  resident  of 
Dundee  of  Jerome  Davis  was  seeing  him  build  a  barn 
behind  his  father's  house.  He  was  handy  with  tools,  with  a 
knack  for  construction,  and  as  carpenter,  mason's  appren- 


THE  FORGING  OF  THE  BLADE  13 

tice  and  bricklayer  he  found  plenty  to  do.  When  the  farm 
work  was  heavy  he  worked  in  the  hay-field  or  walked 
behind  the  plow,  and  for  years,  in  the  absence  of  a  house- 
keeper, he  did  his  share  of  the  plain  cooking  and  washing 
for  the  family.  He  stood  loyally  beside  his  father,  to 
whom  he  gave  all  his  earnings  until  the  farm  was  paid  for. 

There  was  a  small  Congregational  Church  in  Dundee, 
with  which  the  family  united.  Jerome  was  the  only  young 
man  in  the  Church,  and  for  years  father  and  son  were  alone 
among  the  men  of  the  community  in  their  attendance  at 
the  weekly  prayer-meeting. 

A  picture  of  the  motherless  family  is  left  by  one  who 
was  associated  with  him  in  later  years:  "  Every  Sabbath 
I  saw  a  short,  dark,  somber  looking  man  preceding  his 
children  into  the  church.  He  always  sat  at  the  end  of  the 
pew.  They  were  very  grave  people.  He  was  a  deacon  in 
the  little  church.  His  prayers  were  precise  and  dreary. 
Augusta  was  a  fair,  timid  girl  who  was  neatly  and  care- 
fully dressed.  Jerome  had  the  air  of  a  humble,  timid, 
earnest  boy,  who  at  every  opportunity  offered  would  rise 
to  testify  for  Christ  —  hesitant  in  speech,  but  so  deep, 
tender,  reverent,  that  all  loved,  admired  and  honored  him. 

When  sixteen  years  old  he  was  chosen  Church  Clerk, 
and  in  that  capacity  had  to  take  part  in  the  trial  of  the 
minister  for  attempting  to  spread  Unitarian  doctrines  in  the 
parish.  Thus  early  in  his  career  was  Jerome  Davis  placed 
on  the  defensive  in  matters  of  faith:  a  forecast  of  that 
wider  arena  in  which  he  was  to  stand  in  defence  of  the 
fundamentals  of  his  belief. 

About  this  time,  Jerome's  aunt,  Mrs.  Wilder,  or  "  Aunt 
Mercy,"  as  she  was  known  to  the  family,  nursed  him 
through  a  serious  attack  of  pneumonia,  saved  his  life  and 
laid  the  basis  of  a  life-long  affection  between  them.  A 
council  of  physicians  had  given  him  up  after  a  struggle  of 
many  weeks.  Mrs.  Wilder,  undaunted  at  the  situation, 


14  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

took  command,  steeped  a  quantity  of  smart- weed,  packed 
the  patient  in  the  pungent  mess  and  in  a  few  hours  had 
him  conscious  and  on  the  road  to  recovery. 

As  in  New  York,  so  in  Illinois,  the  winters  brought  an 
opportunity  for  study  in  the  village  school,  which  provided 
better  facilities  than  those  he  had  yet  enjoyed.  A  class- 
mate writes,  "  I  remember  him  as  a  good  boy  in  school 
and  always  studious.  He  later  attained  the  dignity  of  the 
back  seat,  the  place  reserved  for  the  older  boys  and  girls. 
We  noticed  his  methodical  ways.  He  was  rather  tall  and 
slightly  built,  with  a  somewhat  serious  face  and  reserve  of 
manner  that  did  not  invite  careless  advances,  but  there 
was  a  merry  twinkle  in  his  eye  and  a  brisk  manner  of 
speech  and  action  that  won  him  friends.  He  was  a  trifle 
shy  and  ill  at  ease  with  ladies  and  certainly  did  not  star 
at  the  local  parties.  Determination,  reliability  and  worth 
were  written  all  over  him." 

The  winter  session  of  the  village  school  was  a  poor  sub- 
stitute for  the  college  preparation  which  he  craved.  If  he 
was  to  carry  out  his  great  aim  of  efficient  service  he  must 
have  a  college  training,  but  loyalty  to  his  father  and  the 
family  required  that  he  place  his  time  and  earnings  at 
their  disposal. 

The  dilemma  seemed  incapable  of  solution  if  he  were  to 
be  true  to  both  calls  of  duty.  He  faced  the  situation 
squarely  and  while  continuing  to  give  his  wages  to  his 
father,  prepared  himself  for  college  by  the  slow  process  of 
winter  and  evening  study.  "  Many  a  time  did  I  shed 
tears  as  I  saw  other  young  men  able  to  go  to  Elgin  Acad- 
emy, while  I  had  to  work.  When  I  was  seventeen  I 
bought  a  copy  of  Virgil  with  a  Latin  Grammar,  Reader 
and  Lexicon,  and  that  winter  recited  once  a  week  to  the 
lady  who  taught  our  village  school.  This  was  the  only 
help  that  I  had  in  Latin  before  entering  college.  The  next 
fall  I  bought  some  Greek  books  and  began  that  study,  but 


THE  FORGING  OF  THE  BLADE  15 

never  had  the  privilege  of  asking  any  one  a  question  in 
Greek  until  I  entered  college.  That  same  autumn  I  passed 
an  examination  to  teach  a  District  School  during  the  fol- 
lowing winter. 

"  I  had  never  been  away  from  home  and  was  lonely.  I 
boarded  around.  The  family  which  sent  the  largest  num- 
ber of  children  to  the  school  had  a  steady  fare  of  saleratus 
biscuit,  fried  pork  and  potatoes,  boiled  with  the  skins  on, 
which  I  ate  three  times  a  day  for  five  weeks.  I  dug  away 
at  my  Latin  and  Greek,  mornings  and  evenings  and  during 
the  noon  hour,  when  able,  and  walked  home  to  Dundee 
every  Friday  evening. 

"  I  opened  school  each  morning  with  a  brief  Bible  read- 
ing and  prayer.  Two  weeks  before  the  end  of  the  term 
some  of  the  big  boys,  several  of  whom  were  older  than  I, 
covered  the  walls  of  the  school  room  with  caricatures  of 
the  pious  stripling  who  was  trying  to  teach  them.  It  was 
hard  to  bear,  but  the  term  was  so  nearly  ended  that  I 
pocketed  my  feelings  and  finished  without  a  collision." 

One  who  was  later  a  comrade  with  him  under  Sherman, 
on  the  "  March  to  the  Sea,"  wrote  shortly  before  Dr. 
Davis'  death:  "  Col.  Davis.  That  name  carries  me  back 
to  the  little  school  in  Barrington:  I  a  school  boy;  you  the 
teacher.  Those  were  the  happiest  days  of  my  life,  without 
a  care  or  sorrow  and  all  the  pranks  that  boys  delight  in. 
I  well  remember  the  thrashing  you  gave  me  for  jumping 
on  the  hay  in  Bucklin's  barn  when  you  had  forbidden  it. 
That  was  the  only  one  you  ever  gave  me.  The  scene 
shifts:  I  a  private  and  you  the  Colonel  of  my  regiment. 
I  was  sick  in  the  field  hospital  before  Atlanta.  You  came 
to  see  me.  I  was  not  only  sick  in  body,  but  would  have 
given  worlds  to  go  home.  You  cheered  me  right  away  by 
your  kindness  and  I  was  better." 

The  next  winter  Jerome  had  a  school  in  a  more  desirable 
neighborhood,  and  later,  when  twenty  years  old,  he  be- 


16  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

came  the  master  of  the  Carpentersville  School,  a  mile  from 
Dundee,  where  he  taught  for  one  year. 

These  four  years  of  school  teaching  played  a  happy  part 
in  his  development.  They  kept  him  in  contact  with  educa- 
tional ideals,  gave  opportunities  for  pursuing  his  classical 
education,  provided  an  income  with  which  he  could  aid  his 
father,  and  developed  the  love  of  teaching  which  character- 
ized his  later  educational  work.  The  mixing  with  various 
conditions  and  classes  of  people  and  the  dealing  with  human 
nature  in  varied  relationships  supplied  a  hitherto  missing 
element  in  his  training. 

There  came  to  the  reticent  youth  during  this  period  a 
knowledge  of  men  and  their  limitations  and  a  degree  of 
self-control  that  later,  under  different  and  trying  circum- 
stances, were  crystallized  into  leadership. 


CHAPTER  III 
BELOIT  COLLEGE 

MORE  than  with  most  men,  his  twenty-first  birth- 
day marked  a  new  era  in  the  life  of  Jerome  Davis. 
Up  to  this  time  his  earnings  had  been  given  to 
his  father,  who  had  now  paid  for  the  farm  and  was  in 
more  comfortable  circumstances.  Hereafter  his  time  and 
money  were  his  own.  He  continued  to  teach  until  summer 
and  in  September,  1858,  with  sixty  dollars  and  a  set  of 
college  text-books  as  his  only  possession,  he  entered  the 
freshman  class  of  Lawrence  University  at  Apple  ton, 
Wisconsin. 

His  first  choice  had  been  Beloit  College,  then  the  leading 
institution  in  the  Northwest,  but  the  offer  of  a  scholarship 
from  a  relative  at  Lawrence  University  decided  him  in 
favor  of  the  newer  school. 

The  two  terms  he  spent  at  Appleton  did  not  satisfy 
him.  The  college  was  very  young,  not  yet  fully  organized 
and  indifferently  manned.  At  the  end  of  the  winter  term, 
in  1859,  he  left  Lawrence  University  and  went  to  Beloit. 

Beloit  College  had  been  founded  twelve  years  before  by 
a  group  of  New  England  educators,  who  had  with  unusual 
success  transferred  New  England  scholarship  and  culture 
to  southern  Wisconsin.  The  school  had  already  attracted 
to  its  faculty  that  coterie  of  brilliant  scholars  and  noble 
personalities  which  has  been  responsible  in  such  large 
measure  for  its  high  educational  standards  and  large  out- 
put of  efficient  graduates.  President  Chapin  and  Professors 
Blaisdell,  Emerson  and  Porter  were  teachers  who  were  not 
satisfied  to  merely  interpret  the  classics  and  sciences  to 
their  pupils,  but  whose  kindling  personalities  remade  men 

17 


18  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

and  interpreted  life  to  them  upon  a  grander  scale  than 
they  had  yet  dreamed. 

The  warm  greeting  given  him  by  President  Chapin,  on 
arriving  in  Beloit,  and  the  kindly  offices  extended  to  him 
by  president  and  teachers,  won  Jerome's  heart  and  knit 
him  at  the  outset  to  the  life  of  the  college.  He  found  the 
Beloit  requirements  higher  than  those  at  Lawrence  and 
this,  with  the  difficulty  of  changing  courses  in  mid-year, 
necessitated  the  period  of  adjustment.  However,  he 
caught  up  with  his  class  the  following  autumn  and  struck 
a  pace  that  brought  him  rapidly  to  the  front.  A  class- 
mate says  of  him,  "  He  was  '  facile  princeps  *  in  his  class 
work.  He  seemed  to  have  just  a  little  more  in  him  than 
the  rest  of  us  to  make  excellent  work,  though  I  think  he 
never  did  it  for  that  reason.  But  he  would  work  things 
out,  and,  as  they  say,  '  then  some.  '  Professor  William 
Porter  refers  to  this  same  trait,  "  He  was  not  a  brilliant 
student,  but  had  the  capacity  for  intense  application 
combined  with  great  thoroughness.  He  was  extremely 
conscientious,  almost  painfully  so,  but  a  student  upon 
whom  you  could  absolutely  depend  to  do  genuine  work. 
His  loyalty  to  the  faculty  has  never  been  excelled  in 
Beloit."  He  had  a  natural  aptitude  for  mathematics  and 
the  time  saved  in  preparing  these  lessons  he  put  upon  the 
classics,  in  which  he  had  had  inadequate  preparation,  and 
upon  which  he  concentrated  all  of  his  energy. 

He  received  some  aid  from  the  Education  Society,  but 
had  to  rely  upon  himself  for  most  of  his  support.  "  I 
sawed  wood,  worked  in  gardens  at  ten  cents  an  hour  and 
took  care  of  a  horse.  During  the  winter  I  cared  for  four 
recitation  rooms,  sweeping  and  dusting  them  and  carrying 
the  coal  up  and  the  ashes  down  two  flights  of  stairs  and 
building  the  fires.  To  do  this  I  had  to  get  up  every  morn- 
ing at  four  o'clock  and  work  until  breakfast  time."  The 
first  college  exercise,  chapel  prayers,  called  the  students 


BELOIT  COLLEGE  19 

together  at  six  o'clock,  after  which,  while  it  was  still  dark, 
"  we  Sophomores  used  to  make  our  way  across  the  un- 
lighted,  snow-covered  campus  to  hear  Professor  Emerson 
interpret  Herodotus  by  the  light  of  a  lamp."  There  was 
no  hardship  in  this  program  to  a  boy  who  had  for  years 
been  longing  for  such  opportunities,  and  he  records  of  these 
days  that  they  were  among  the  happiest  of  his  life. 

During  the  spring  of  his  sophomore  year  he  taught  two 
hours  a  day  in  the  preparatory  department  and  in  this 
way  relieved  the  strain  of  physical  labor  that  had  hitherto 
absorbed  considerable  time  and  strength. 

The  religious  spirit  at  Beloit  was  deep  and  manifest  in 
many  ways  in  the  student  life  as  well  as  in  the  regulations 
of  the  school.  Jerome  entered  enthusiastically  into  the 
Missionary  Society  and  the  activities  of  the  Christian 
Union,  the  forerunner  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  As- 
sociation, and  was  usually  at  the  class  or  college  prayer- 
meetings.  Chapel  prayers  were  held  twice  a  day  and 
each  student  was  required  to  be  present,  while  attendance 
at  church  and  at  the  Sabbath  afternoon  chapel  service  was 
also  expected  of  all  the  men. 

In  the  Sabbath  afternoon  talks  President  Chapin  spoke 
from  his  heart  and  opened  new  worlds  of  thought  and 
experience  to  his  students.  Forty  years  later  Dr.  Davis 
wrote,  "  President  Chapin's  presence  was  a  benediction  to 
me.  I  remember  his  Sabbath  afternoon  sermons  in  the 
chapel,  on  the  life  of  Christ,  as  if  they  were  of  yesterday. 
The  longer  I  live,  the  more  I  am  impressed  with  the  fact 
that  men  are  like  composite  photographs,  largely  made  by 
the  men  who  influence  them  during  the  formative  period 
of  their  lives.  I  am  conscious  that  President  Chapin  and 
Professors  Emerson,  Porter  and  Blaisdell  have  moulded 
my  life  more  than  all  other  human  influences  combined, 
and  among  these  men  I  owe  a  large  debt  of  gratitude  tp 
President  Chapin." 


20  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

His  oldest  brother's  conversion,  for  which  he  had  long 
waited,  seemed  to  him  a  direct  answer  to  prayer.  In  the 
letter  he  now  wrote  to  his  father  we  get  the  first  glimpse 
of  his  heart:  "It  must  have  been  joyful  news  to  you  to 
hear  that  Isaac,  like  the  long-lost  prodigal,  had  returned  to 
his  Father's  house  and  was  there  seeking  the  bread  of 
eternal  life.  As  I  read  the  news  my  eyes  were  wet  with 
tears  and  my  heart  went  up  in  gratitude  to  my  heavenly 
Father  who  ordereth  all  things  well.  It  has  strengthened 
and  encouraged  me." 

It  was  during  this  year  that  the  question  of  life  work 
was  decided.  "  For  years  the  conviction  had  come  re- 
peatedly that  I  ought  to  preach  the  Gospel,  but  I  did  not 
believe  that  I  was  worthy  and  I  did  not  want  to  do  it. 
I  fought  against  it,  but  'found  no  rest  until  I  decided  to  go 
ahead  and  get  such  an  education  as  would  fit  me  to  preach 
the  Gospel,  leaving  it  to  the  future  to  decide  just  what  I 
should  do.  I  had  made  this  decision  some  two  years  be- 
fore entering  college."  His  first  year  at  Beloit  with  the 
new  vistas  of  life  and  service  that  the  stimulating  en- 
vironment disclosed  to  him  gave  a  final  answer  to  this 
question  which  was  never  opened  again. 

During  his  second  winter  at  college  a  class  revolution 
occurred  which  was  a  severe  test  of  moral  fibre.  It  was  the 
custom  each  year  for  the  sophomores  to  ride  across  the 
country,  twenty  miles,  to  spend  an  evening  with  the  senior 
class  of  the  Ladies'  Seminary  at  Rockford,  Illinois.  The 
usual  preparations  had  been  made  and  the  sleighs  and 
dinner  ordered,  when  the  principal  of  the  Rockford  school 
requested  of  President  Chapin  that,  owing  to  a  special  re- 
ligious interest  among  the  students,  the  party  be  postponed. 
The  Beloit  faculty  informed  the  sophomores  that  they 
could  not  go  to  Rockford.  At  chapel  prayers,  the  day 
before  the  proposed  party,  President  Chapin  made  a  clear 
statement,  explaining  the  situation  and  asking  for  the 


BELOIT  COLLEGE  21 

cooperation  of  the  class  with  the  faculty.  After  chapel  an 
indignation  meeting  was  held.  "  The  boys  were  all  excited 
and  inflammatory  speeches  were  made.  At  last,  all  the 
class,  except  myself,  had  pledged  themselves  to  go,  if  all 
would  go.  The  whole  class  tried  for  two  hours  to  make 
me  go.  They  pleaded,  they  argued  and  some  denounced 
me  as  a  coward  and  a  traitor  to  the  class.  I  saw  the  in- 
justice of  giving  the  refusal  so  late,  but  I  had  signed  a 
matriculation  pledge  in  which  I  had  promised  to  obey  the 
rules  of  the  college.  I  felt  that  I  could  honorably  go  only 
by  severing  my  connection  with  the  college,  and  this  would 
probably  defeat  my  plans  for  an  education  and  for  my 
life  work.  I  could  not  do  it.  I  endured  the  pressure  until 
midnight  and  then  went  home  and  went  to  bed.  The 
next  day,  because  I  did  not  go,  three  others  remained, 
but  all  the  rest  of  the  class  went  to  Rockford.  On  their 
return  the  faculty  took  strong  measures  and  suspended 
them  all  for  six  weeks." 

The  students  of  Beloit  were  soon  to  face  far  more  mo- 
mentous questions  than  those  presented  by  college  activi- 
ties. With  the  opening  of  the  year  1861,  both  North 
and  South  could  no  longer  avoid  the  conclusion  that  the 
issues  for  which  they  stood  were  irreconcilable,  that  com- 
promise was  an  impossibility  and  that  the  principles  which 
either  side  interpreted  as  guaranteed  them  in  the  Con- 
stitution could  only  be  established  by  the  arbitrament  of 
war.  Beloit  College  felt  the  thrill  of  the  impending  con- 
flict. The  right  of  secession,  the  necessity  for  coercion, 
the  attitude  of  Seward  upon  compromise  and  the  condi- 
tions of  the  coming  struggle  were  discussed  in  every  meet- 
ing, at  every  table  and  on  each  occasion  where  the  men 
came  together.  The  campus  was  transformed  into  a  drill 
field  and  the  Manual  of  Arms  was  included  in  the  daily 
schedule  of  a  majority  of  the  students. 

A  company  was  organized  in  the  college,  which  Jerome 


22  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

Davis  joined.  Here  another  test  of  mettle  came,  which 
in  the  light  of  his  later  record  is  interesting.  "  After  a  few 
weeks  of  drill  the  man  who  had  trained  us  and  wanted  to 
be  captain  made  a  long  speech,  while  we  stood  in  line,  con- 
cluding with  the  request  that  all  who  would  enlist  and 
enter  the  army  should  take  three  steps  to  the  front.  I 
think  I  was  the  only  one  who  remained  standing  still. 
Again  I  received  the  taunts  of  my  fellows,  but  I  did  not 
feel  that  the  emergency  was  then  great  enough  to  sacrifice 
preparation  for  life  work  and,  perhaps,  life  itself." 

Upon  the  first  call  of  President  Lincoln  for  75,000  men,  Je- 
rome's older  brother,  John,  who  was  in  business  in  Minnesota, 
enlisted  in  the  First  Minnesota  Vol.  Inf.  Regiment,  and  in  May 
passed  within  twelve  miles  of  Beloit  on  his  way  to  the  front. 

Jerome  was  unaware  of  this  at  the  time  and  did  not  see 
him  again  before  his  death  at  Gettysburg,  two  years  later. 
He  wrote  to  his  brother,  April  18th:  "  It  is  hard  just  now 
to  withdraw  my  mind  from  the  South  and  the  battles 
that  will  soon  be  raging  there,  and  I  am  ready,  if  there  is 
any  lack  of  help,  to  go  down  and  fight.  There  is  evidently 
a  fearful  struggle  in  store  for  us,  but  I  hope  that  it  will 
be  the  death  of  slavery." 

On  the  margin  of  a  letter  to  his  father  written  a  few 
days  later,  he  says:  "  I  am  well  and  about  three  times  as 
busy  as  the  average  student,  having  a  class  to  hear  in 
geometry,  one  in  algebra  and  another  in  geography,  every 
day,  besides  other  work;  an  hour  drilling  with  the  com- 
pany, one  and  a  half  hours  preparing  for  biennial  examina- 
tions and,  finally,  my  regular  studies.  Two  companies 
have  left  town,  in  one  of  which  were  twelve  students. 
The  most  I  fear  for  my  country  is  that  some  base  com- 
promise will  be  agreed  to  by  the  North.  I  had  rather  see 
peaceable  Secession  with  all  its  difficulties,  or  the  coercion 
of  arms,  with  all  its  horrors,  than  that  we  should  yield 
another  inch  to  the  soul-thirsty  traitors,'* 


BELOIT  COLLEGE  23 

The  college  year  drew  toward  Commencement,  and 
though,  as  yet,  the  war  had  made  few  gaps  among  the 
students,  the  echo  of  arms  was  already  in  the  air,  a  heavy 
cloud  of  suspense  hung  over  the  college,  and  as  the  stu- 
dents bade  each  other  "  Good-bye,"  none  knew  what 
September  might  hold  for  him  or  for  the  nation. 


CHAPTER  IV 
THE  LONG  ROLL 

THE  summer  vacation  was  still  young  when  the  de- 
cisive defeat  of  the  Union  Army  in  its  first  battle  at 
Bull  Run  awoke  the  North  to  the  appalling  con- 
flict which  it  was  facing.  Jerome  Davis  was  traveling 
in  southern  Wisconsin  and  read  in  the  morning  paper  of 
President  Lincoln's  call  for  three  hundred  thousand  volun- 
teers and  Governor  Yate's  statement  that  every  man  in 
Illinois  who  would  enlist  was  needed.  "  I  felt  that  that 
call  took  me."  A  vivid  letter  from  his  brother  describing 
his  experience  at  Bull  Run,  where  his  regiment  had  covered 
the  Union  retreat  by  defending  the  batteries  of  Ricketts 
and  Griffin  against  the  sledge-hammer  assaults  of  Stone- 
wall Jackson's  Brigade,  still  further  deepened  his  conviction. 
The  last  doubt  vanished;  his  country  needed  men;  needed 
him,  and  he  turned  his  back  upon  his  loved  Beloit  with  a 
clear  conscience.  He  went  home  to  Dundee,  found  that 
nearly  one  hundred  men  had  already  enlisted  in  a  company 
there,  and  put  his  name  down  to  serve  for  three  years  or 
for  the  war. 

It  was  a  serious  motive  that  had  impelled  him  to  enter 
the  army  and  serious  he  seemed  to  the  men  of  his  com- 
pany. A  comrade  says  of  him,  "  I  had  never  met  him  until 
the  day  of  our  enlistment,  in  the  early  part  of  September, 
1861,  when  we  drove  in  wagons  from  Dundee  to  Geneva, 
where  the  regiment  was  organized.  We  were  riding  in  the 
same  wagon,  and  I  have  never  forgotten  the  impression 
he  created  in  my  mind  that  day;  he  was  so  entirely  dif- 
ferent from  the  rollicking  young  boys,  as  most  of  them 
were,  yet  so  very  forbearing  of  their  pranks." 

24 


THE  LONG  ROLL  25 

The  new  recruits  were  quartered  in  the  County  Fair 
buildings  at  Geneva,  where  the  initial  experiences  of  mili- 
tary life  were  burned  into  Jerome's  memory.  "  I  shall 
never  forget  that  first  night.  Here  were  two  hundred  young 
men  in  one  room.  Among  them  were  a  few  very  wicked 
men  who  made  night  hideous  with  ribald  songs  and  ob- 
scene stories."  It  was  a  relief  when  the  Sibley  tents 
arrived  and  the  troops  were  broken  up  into  groups  of  six 
and  eight  men.  His  reaction  upon  his  environment,  his 
first  close  contact  with  gross  wickedness,  was  decided.  He 
wasted  no  time  in  reflecting  upon  the  disagreeable  situation, 
and  since  he  could  not  withdraw  from  the  moral  corrup- 
tion of  the  camp  he  attempted  to  clean  it  up. 

A  few  entries  in  his  diary  show  what  he  was  doing  when 
not  drilling  with  the  company,  "  Mon.,  Sept.  30th.  Dis- 
tributed thirty  Testaments;  more  wanted.  Tues.  Oct.  1. 
Purchased  fifteen  more  Testaments,  and  distributed  them; 
Wed.  Oct.  2d.  Procured  ten  more  Testaments;  had 
enough.  Thurs.,  Oct.  3rd.  Circulated  a  pledge  against  using 
intoxicating  liquor  and  obtained  the  signatures  of  almost 
all  of  Company  I  that  were  here.  Sunday,  Oct.  6th. 
Walked  to  St.  Charles  to  church  in  the  morning.  In  the 
afternoon  heard  Mr.  Barbour  preach  on  the  grounds.  In 
the  evening  attended  Bible  class  and  when  looking  around 
in  the  tents  for  all  that  would  attend,  I  found  an  illiterate 
Irishman,  alone,  reading  slowly  aloud  from  one  of  the 
Testaments  I  had  distributed.  I  felt  richly  repaid  for  all 
they  had  cost  me." 

"  Mon.  Oct.  7th.  Found  a  liquor  bottle  behind  a  post, 
which  I  hung,  with  the  label,  '  Death  to  the  Bottle. '  " 
Such  radical  temperance  methods  could  not  pass  un- 
challenged, for  the  next  entry  records,  —  "  Came  near  get- 
ting smashed  at  table  and  it  is  evident  there  will  have  to 
be  a  change  in  the  method  of  procedure."  Whether  the, 
1  smashing*  referred  to  the  bottle  or  the  reformer  is  not 


26  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

known,  but  he  had  learned  a  lesson,  and  no  more  labelled 
whisky  bottles  were  hung  in  the  camp. 

"  Oct.  13th.  Sunday.  This  afternoon  we  turned  out  to 
escort  St.  Charles  Cavalry  to  the  depot,  as  they  started 
for  the  front.  It  brought  the  tears  to  my  eyes  to  see 
women,  with  little  ones  clinging  to  them  and  sobbing,  kiss 
the  sun-burnt  cheeks  of  their  husbands,  who  choked  down 
their  feelings.  Tues.  Oct.  15th.  Had  a  fine  prayer-meeting 
this  evening  in  which  Capt.  Brown  took  part.  Wed. 
Oct.  16th.  A  squad  of  twenty  men  left  camp  this  morn- 
ing because  they  could  not  get  offices  to  suit  them.  Sat. 
Oct.  19th.  We  had  dress  parade  at  four- thirty  and  our 
company  carried  our  regimental  flag  for  the  first  time  and 
when  we  had  done,  we  gave  three  cheers  for  this  banner 
under  whose  folds  we  have  got  to  march  and  fight,  and, 
probably,  some  of  us  to  die.  In  the  evening,  attended 
Lyceum  and  had  a  spirited  time.  After  tattoo  I  had  a 
bath  in  the  brook,  unaccompanied,  save  by  the  full  moon 
overhead  and  the  white  frost  underfoot  and  the  voice  of  a 
sentinel  who  said  I  would  surely,  '  catch  my  death/  but 
I  took  a  '  double-quick '  around  the  race-course  of  the 
Fair  ground  and  warmed  up,  slept  well  and  came  out  safe." 

"Camp  Lyon,  Geneva,  Oct.  18th,  1861.  Dear  Sister:  — 
We  are  faring  very  well  and  all  the  boys  are  rapidly  gaining 
flesh.  We  have  singing,  dancing,  boxing,  ball-playing, 
lyceums  and  prayer-meetings  for  our  amusements.  .  .  .  We 
are  Company  I,  the  color  company  of  the  regiment,  and  in 
line  of  battle  will  be  on  the  right  center,  the  place  where 
the  fiercest  attacks  will  be  made.  .  .  .  We  will  soon  have 
our  uniforms  and  expect  to  move  in  two  weeks  to  Mis- 
souri. Affectionately  yours,  Jerome." 

The  weeks  at  Camp  Lyon  gave  ample  opportunity  for 
the  men  of  the  regiment  to  become  acquainted.  Com- 
pany I  was  a  fine  body  of  men.  Captain  Joseph  Brown 
was  a  Christian  man.  First  Sergeant  Samuel  Anderson 


THE  LONG  ROLL  27 

had  no  superior  in  the  company  in  character  or  ability. 
He  had  left  Chicago  Theological  Seminary  to  enlist  in  the 
regiment  and  soon  found  a  devoted  friend  in  Jerome 
Davis.  There  were  nine  Christians  in  the  company.  Most 
of  the  men  of  Company  I  kept  the  pledge  of  temperance 
which  they  signed  at  Geneva.  A  weekly  prayer-meeting 
and,  much  of  the  time,  a  Bible  class,  was  kept  up  for  the 
regiment  through  the  four  years  of  the  war.  For  its  high 
average  of  character  and  the  activity  of  its  leading  mem- 
bers in  the  religious  interests  of  the  regiment,  Company  I 
was  called  the  "  Moral  Company." 

After  six  weeks  in  the  Geneva  barracks,  the  Fifty-second 
Illinois  was  transferred  to  Missouri  and  crossed  from  St. 
Louis  to  St.  Joseph  on  the  8th  of  December.  It  was  a 
rough  experience  in  cattle  trains,  through  hostile  country. 
The  diary  sketches  a  vivid  panorama  of  soldiering  in  the 
South.  It  shows  the  men  struggling  through  roads  six 
inches  deep  with  mud;  and  again  standing  all  night  under 
arms  on  the  bank  of  the  Missouri  River,  waiting  to  be 
ferried  across;  the  loading  of  the  men  into  stock  cars 
just  emptied  of  Kansas  hogs;  the  whiling  away  of  the  long 
night  hours  by  the  dancing  and  singing  of  negro  slaves; 
the  raw,  smoked  pork  for  rations  and  the  water  supply  for 
the  thirsty  men,  the  mud-holes  along  the  railway  track. 
"  This  is  the  road  where  so  much  of  the  bridge  work  and 
rolling  stock  has  been  destroyed  and  it  is  one  of  the  rough- 
est in  the  country.  We  rode  150  miles  behind  an  engine 
that  was  dented  with  bullets,  going  many  a  mile  in  a 
little  over  a  minute,  jerking,  swaying  and  jumping  along, 
bruising  our  heads  and  sides,  standing  with  difficulty, 
braced  and  packed  though  we  were.  We  went  through 
safely,  but  I  feel  that  I  have  been  in  more  danger  than  in 
an  ordinary  battle." 

In  St.  Joseph  the  men  were  preparing  for  a  merry  Christ- 
mas with  the  boxes  of  good  things  sent  from  home,  when 


28  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

on  Christmas  eve,  the  Fifty-second  was  ordered  back  forty 
miles,  to  guard  the  bridge  at  Grindstone  Creek.  The  snow 
was  a  foot  deep;  the  thermometer  stood  at  five  above 
zero.  The  Quartermaster  took  three  days  to  make  con- 
nections with  his  supplies,  and  the  regiment  had  a  Christmas 
dinner  of  corn  roasted  on  the  cob.  "  My  chum  and  I  cut 
down  small  trees,  laid  up  a  log  house  three  feet  high,  put 
our  small  wedge  tent  on  top,  and,  with  a  fireplace  on  one 
side,  we  were  quite  comfortable." 

He  was  not  given  to  practical  joking,  but  the  New  Year 
came  in  with  an  uproar  in  camp  that  some  of  his  com- 
rades still  place  at  Jerome  Davis'  door.  "  New  Year's 
Eve,  I  was  Corporal  of  the  Guard.  Orders  were,  that  any 
sentinel  who  saw  men  approaching  should  fire,  and  if  a 
gun  was  fired,  the  camp  should  be  put  under  arms.  I 
had  changed  the  guard  at  eleven  o'clock  and  we  were 
sitting  around  an  open  fire,  roasting  beef  on  our  ramrods. 
It  was  nearly  midnight,  and  I  sat  with  my  watch  in  hand, 
ready  to  wish  my  comrades  a  '  Happy  New  Year.'  The 
last  minute  came  and  just  as  I  was  about  to  speak  the 
words,  '  Bang,'  went  a  gun.  I  jumped  up  yelling,  '  Turn 
out,  turn  out,  a  gun  is  fired ! '  The  sentinel  who  had  fired 
cried  out,  '  Don't  disturb  them,  it's  nothing  but  a  wolf,' 
and,  simultaneously,  a  dog  came  yelping  in  on  three  legs. 
By  this  time,  the  camp  was  aroused,  some  out  of  their 
tents,  others  looking  out,  when  taking  in  the  situation, 
I  wished  them  all  a,  '  Happy  New  Year.'  The  captain 
found  a  private  trying  to  get  into  one  end  of  his  panta- 
loons while  he  got  into  the  other,  and  he  declared  he  would 
never  take  them  off  again  while  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
enemy.  The  camp  thought  we  had  put  up  the  whole 
thing  to  fool  them." 

With  the  opening  of  1862,  General  H.  W.  Halleck  began 
concentrating  all  his  available  forces  for  an  advance  upon 
the  Confederate  line  of  defence  in  Kentucky.  The  Fifty- 


THE  LONG  ROLL  29 

second  Illinois  was  ordered  to  Smithland,  Ky.  On  reaching 
St.  Joseph,  Corporal  Davis  was  ill  with  chills  and  fever  and 
was  sent  to  the  Army  Hospital.  "  The  doctor  felt  my 
pulse  and  prescribed  Dover's  Powders;  the  next  day  I 
was  worse,  but  was  given  more  Dover's  Powders.  I  had 
some  Quinine  in  my  knapsack  and  began  taking  regular 
doses  and,  in  three  days,  subdued  the  fever.  .  .  .  There 
were  six  of  us  in  the  same  ward,  all  getting  well  from 
different  diseases,  but  the  prescription  was  the  same  for 
all,  —  two  pills  from  a  common  box,  once  in  two  hours. 
Each  time,  I  threw  mine  into  the  fire.  Finally,  I  went 
out  and  bought  some  apples  and  in  a  week  felt  ready  to 
join  my  regiment.  The  surgeon  refused  to  let  me  go,  and 
so  to  prove  my  strength,  I  walked  across  the  frozen  Missouri 
River  into  Kansas  and  back.  I  had  longed  to  touch  the 
sacred  soil  of  Kansas,  ever  since  my  blood  was  stirred,  in 
1854,  with  its  struggles  for  freedom." 

Two  days  later  he  was  put  in  charge  of  a  squad  of 
fifteen  convalescents  belonging  to  his  regiment,  whom  he 
took  to  St.  Louis  and  thence  to  Cairo  by  steamer.  Here 
he  met  the  new  commander  of  the  Fifty-second  Illinois. 
Colonel  Thomas  W.  Sweeny  had  served  with  a  brilliant 
record  through  the  Mexican  War,  losing  his  right  arm  at 
the  battle  of  Churubusco,  and  had  recently  come  from 
active  service  in  the  regular  army  in  the  Far  West.  Jerome 
Davis  had  occasion  to  remember  his  first  encounter  with 
Colonel  Sweeny.  On  the  journey  to  Smithland,  his  squad 
was  without  rations,  and  he  went  directly  to  the  erect, 
one-armed  officer  upon  the  upper  deck,  introduced  himself 
and  made  known  his  errand.  Colonel  Sweeny  turned  his 
flashing  eyes  upon  the  subaltern,  with  the  sharp  command, 
— "  Corporal,  come  to  attention,  sir!  "  Startled  by  the 
fierce  reprimand  of  his  superior  officer,  and  utterly  con- 
fused, he  assumed  the  position  of  "  parade  rest."  Again, 
the  ringing  voice,  —  "  Don't  you  know  what  attention  is? 


30  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

Come  to  ATTENTION,  sir!  !  !  Now  get  your  orders 
from  the  sergeant  here."  The  rations  were  secured  and  the 
lesson  in  military  discipline  was  never  forgotten. 

From  the  moment  that  the  new  colonel  took  command  of 
the  Fifty-second,  efficiency  and  discipline  were  born  in  the 
volunteer  regiment.  It  was  put  under  the  strictest  military 
training,  and  as  a  result  became  one  of  the  best  units  in 
the  division.  On  February  14th,  orders  came  to  proceed 
up  the  Cumberland  River  to  reinforce  General  U.  S.  Grant 
who  was  investing  Fort  Donaldson.  The  regiment  reached 
Fort  Donaldson  just  twelve  hours  after  its  surrender,  but 
in  time  to  witness  the  evacuation  of  the  garrison.  It  was 
next  detailed  to  guard  six  steamer  loads  of  Confederate 
prisoners  to  St.  Louis  and  Chicago. 

Company  I,  with  seventy  men,  was  put  in  charge  of 
1,800  prisoners  on  the  S.  S.  "Alec  Scott."  "As  we 
steamed  down  the  narrow  Cumberland  River,  night  and 
day,  I  could  not  but  wonder  whether  seventy  Confederates 
could  safely  guard  a  load  of  1,800  Yankees  down  the  Hud- 
son River,  in  their  own  country."  Colonel  Sweeny  was  on 
board  the,  "  Alec  Scott,"  with  his  Color  Company.  As  long 
as  they  were  within  sight  of  southern  soil,  there  was  no 
rest,  day  or  night,  for  the  seventy  federal  guards,  but 
when  Cairo  and  the  broad  Mississippi  came  in  sight,  the 
watch  was  somewhat  relaxed.  "As  we  left  Cairo  the  third 
night,  everybody  was  so  tired  out  that  the  Officer  of  the 
Day  turned  the  command  over  to  the  Officer  of  the  Guard 
and  went  to  bed.  As  soon  as  he  was  out  of  sight,  the 
Officer  of  the  Guard  turned  everything  over  to  me  and 
also  went  to  bed.  I  made  the  rounds  and  managed  the 
guards  all  night! 

"  While  on  guard  duty  in  the  Chicago  barracks, 
now  filled  with  Confederates,  I  was  amazed,  one  Sun- 
day morning,  to  find  a  prayer-meeting,  — '  rebels,'  praying 
and  singing  with  fervor.  The  sight  gave  me  a  new 


THE  LONG  ROLL  31 

idea  of  the  character  of  the  men   I   was  soon   to  meet  in 

battle."  * 

The  scene  shifts  again  from  the  northern  prison  to  the 
muddy  current  of  the  Tennessee  River,  where  on  the  17th 
of  March,  the  regiment  joined  the  divisions  of  Halleck's 
army  on  the  steamers  which  bore  them  to  rendezvous 
under  Grant  at  Fort  Henry.  "  The  evening  we  lay  at  Fort 
Henry  will  never  be  forgotten.  The  warm,  balmy  air,  the 
moonlight  on  the  water  and  the  strains  of  music  from  the 
bands  of  twenty  regiments,  all  playing,  at  once,  the  most 
stirring,  patriotic  strains  from  the  decks  of  as  many  steam- 
ers, seemed  a  dream  out  of  fairy-land."  That  swelling 
martial  music,  with  snare-drum  accompaniment,  was  next 
heard  by  the  Fifty-second  just  three  weeks  later,  when  it 
awakened  to  the  "  long  roll "  and  the  "  rebel  yell "  at 
Shiloh. 

1This  incident  well  illustrates  the  lack  of  understanding  and  appreciation  df  each 
other  prevailing  at  that  time  between  the  men  of  the  North  and  the  South. 


CHAPTER  V 
THE   BATTLE   OF  SHILOH 

THE  surrender  and  evacuation  of  Fort  Donaldson, 
which  with  Fort  Henry  had  formed  the  center  of  the 
second  line  of  Confederate  defence  in  the  West, 
effectually  pierced  that  line  and  forced  the  Southern  armies 
to  fall  back  to  a  third  defensive  position,  extending  from 
Memphis  on  the  Mississippi  River,  along  the  route  of  the 
Memphis  and  Charlestown  Railroad,  to  its  intersection  at 
Corinth,  Mississippi,  with  the  Mobile  and  Ohio.  From 
this  point  it  followed  the  Tennessee  River  eastward  as  far 
at  Chattanooga.  Driven  back  into  the  very  center  of  the 
South  the  Confederate  forces  began  to  concentrate  along 
this  third  defensive  line.  The  navigable  Tennessee  River 
offered  a  highway  for  five  hundred  miles  into  the  heart  of 
the  Confederacy,  while  the  junction  of  Corinth,  the  gate- 
way to  the  Gulf  States,  now  became  the  prize  toward  which 
General  Halleck  set  his  armies  in  motion.  During  the  early 
spring  of  1862,  minor  operations  of  both  armies  were  put 
aside  and  preparations  were  begun  for  a  struggle  to  possess 
this  strategic  point,  so  vital  to  the  Confederacy. 

The  month  of  March  witnessed  a  steady  procession  of 
transports  plying  up  the  Tennessee  River  to  Pittsburg 
Landing,  where  the  northern  divisions  began  to  disembark 
and  go  into  camp  preparatory  to  the  assault  upon  the 
neighboring  railroad  junction.  By  the  20th  of  March, 
General  Grant  had  assembled  five  divisions  of  Federal 
troops  at  Pittsburg  Landing,  with  a  sixth  under  General 
Lew  Wallace  at  Crump's  Landing,  six  miles  down  the 
river,  aggregating  some  thirty-eight  thousand  men.  General 
Buell,  with  thirty-seven  thousand  men,  comprising  the  Army 

32 


I.       SHILOH    CHURCH.       GENERAL    SHERMANS    HEADQUARTERS 
II.      TENNESSEE   RIVER.      WHERE  GENERAL  GRANT   LANDED   HIS   FORCES 


THE  BATTLE  OF  SHILOH  33 

of  the  Ohio,  was  marching  from  Nashville,  one  hundred  and 
thirty  miles  away,  over  the  heavy  roads  of  central  Tennessee. 

On  the  24th,  the  Confederate  General,  A.  Sidney  John- 
ston, effected  a  junction  of  his  twenty  thousand  men  with 
the  commands  of  Beauregard,  Polk,  Cheatam  and  Bragg, 
so  that  by  April  first,  some  fifty  thousand  Confederate 
troops  had  poured  into  Corinth  and  were  being  organized 
into  a  powerful  army  under  the  master  hand  of  Johnston. 
Johnston's  plan  was  to  crush  Grant  at  the  river,  before 
Buell  could  arrive,  and  then  in  turn  destroy  the  Army  of 
the  Ohio.  With  this  in  view,  he  pushed  forward  during  the 
3rd,  4th,  and  5th  of  April,  through  the  fearful  mud  of  the 
road  leading  to  Pittsburg  Landing. 

The  position  of  the  Union  Army  wras  favorable  for  de- 
fense. It  lay  encamped  on  the  cleared  plateaus  between 
the  woods  and  ravines  of  an  area  measuring  some  four  by 
five  miles  in  extent.  With  the  deep  river  at  its  back,  it 
was  protected  on  either  flank  by  the  bayous  of  Snake  and 
Lick  Creeks,  whose  tributary  streams,  flowing  in  opposite 
directions,  narrowed  the  only  available  point  of  attack  to  a 
line  about  two  miles  long,  to  the  south  and  front  of  the 
Northern  army.  The  region  was  partly  cleared,  open  fields 
alternating  with  dense  masses  of  woods  and  underbrush 
and  cut  up  by  ravines  now  partially  flooded  by  heavy 
rains.  About  the  center  of  the  quadrilaterals  described, 
stood  the  Shiloh  meeting-house,  at  the  junction  of  the  road 
from  Corinth  to  the  landing,  with  the  road  running  to 
Purdy  on  the  west.  Here,  two  miles  from  the  river,  were 
General  Sherman's  headquarters,  while  the  commands  of 
McClernand  and  Prentiss  stretched  off  irregularly  to  the 
southeast.  Between  this  advanced  line  and  the  river  and  a 
mile  in  the  rear,  lay  the  divisions  of  W.  H.  L.  Wallace  and 
Hurlbut,  while  commissary  trains,  artillery  vans  and  quarter- 
master's stores  were  massed  along  the  river  bluff  and  under 
its  banks. 


34  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

Upon  arrival  at  Pittsburg  Landing,  the  Fifty-second 
Illinois  was  assigned  to  the  Third  Brigade  of  the  Second 
Division  of  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee,  under  the  command 
of  Brigadier  General  W.  H.  L.  Wallace.  It  went  into 
camp  on  the  edge  of  a  large  field,  bordering  the  Savannah 
road  that  here  ran  parallel  to  the  river,  and  about  three- 
quarters  of  a  mile  from  it.  Only  two  of  the  five  divisions 
in  camp  had  ever  been  in  battle.  Nearly  all  of  the  men 
were  raw  and  undisciplined,  many  of  them  having  received 
their  first  rifles  but  a  few  days  before.  General  Grant, 
who  had  his  headquarters  eight  miles  down  the  river  at 
Savannah,  spent  the  larger  part  of  each  day  at  Pittsburg 
Landing,  supervising  the  disposition  of  troops  and  stores 
and  perfecting  the  organization  of  the  army.  No  breast- 
works or  entrenchments  were  constructed,  since  the  ad- 
vance upon  Corinth  was  to  begin  in  a  few  days  and  Grant 
considered  it  more  important  to  concentrate  every  energy 
upon  drilling. 

By  Saturday  evening,  April  5th,  the  head  of  the  Con- 
federate column  had  reached  a  point  only  two  miles  from 
Sherman's  pickets,  and  deploying  through  the  woods  to 
right  and  left,  the  Southern  regiments  prepared  to  bivouac 
for  the  night.  A  determined  spirit  pervaded  the  whole  of 
Johnston's  army  as  they  faced  what  must  be  to  them  the 
life  and  death  struggle  of  the  dawn. 

Before  resting  that  night,  General  Johnston  visited  each 
brigade  and  division  commander  with  personal  words  of 
encouragement  and  confidence  in  the  issue  of  the  morrow. 
As  he  mounted  his  great  war  horse  "  Fire-eater,"  he  ex- 
claimed to  his  staff:  —  "Gentlemen,  we  will  water  our 
horses  in  the  Tennessee  River  tomorrow  night."  What 
wonder  that  with  such  confidence  and  magnetic  leadership, 
Johnston's  army  fought  with  a  spirit  that  nearly  made  good 
the  boast  of  its  idolized  chief.  The  sickle  moon  and  mild 
spring  stars  looked  down  that  same  night  upon  thirty- 


THE  BATTLE  OF  SHILOH  35 

three  thousand  Federal  soldiers  sleeping  securely  in  their 
camps  but  two  miles  away,  with  their  commander  eight 
miles  distant  at  Savannah.  Nor  did  commander  more  than 
his  men  dream  of  the  tense  engine  of  destruction  which 
awaited  the  gray  dawn  to  be  launched  at  them  with  sur- 
passing fury. 

Sunday,  the  6th  of  April,  1862,  dawned  with  a  cloudless 
sky.  The  air  was  soft  and  full  of  the  odor  of  blossoming 
dogwood,  jessamine  and  violets  in  the  budding  woods. 

The  catbirds  and  robins  were  already  busy  with  their 
nests  when  the  sun  rose  over  the  bluff  of  the  Tennessee 
River  with  a  splendor  augmented  by  the  rain  of  the  pre- 
ceding day.  Company  I,  Fifty-second  Illinois,  was  up  and 
busy  with  various  duties.  Some  of  the  boys  were  at  the 
spring,  washing  out  an  extra  shirt;  George  Peck,  Milo 
Sherman  and  a  half  dozen  men  were  down  at  the  river 
enjoying  a  morning  dip;  others  were  busy  getting  breakfast 
and  the  scent  of  strong  coffee  and  fried  bacon  permeated  the 
camp.  With  his  back  against  a  tree  and  knapsack  for  a 
desk,  a  private  sat,  writing  a  letter  home,  while  another 
lay  on  the  ground  near  by  reading  from  a  New  Testament. 
A  Sabbath  quiet  and  peace  seemed  to  brood  over  the  whole 
scene. 

Suddenly,  the  earth  beneath  the  white  Sibley  tents 
trembled,  and  there  came  the  boom  of  heavy  cannon. 
"  Sherman  must  be  practicing  that  new  battery  of  his," 
remarked  a  corporal  at  the  fire,  frying  bacon  on  a  bayonet. 
Boom!  Boom!  came  the  deep- toned  answer  out  of  the  south 
forest,  followed  by  the  unmistakable  staccato  of  musketry. 
The  men  stopped  short  where  they  were  and  looked  at 
one  another.  The  Testament  closed  with  a  snap,  the  bacon 
burned  and  curled  to  a  cinder  where  it  fell,  the  banter  of 
the  camp  ceased  and  for  the  space  of  ten  seconds  the  men 
heard  their  watches  ticking  in  their  blouses,  while  faint, 
but  clear-cut  on  the  still  air  came  the  "  Yi!  Yi!"  of  the 


36  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

first  great  Confederate  rush  that  was  sweeping  Prentiss 
back  through  his  camp. 

Captain  Brown  came  out  of  his  tent  in  uniform.  There 
followed  a  few  quick  orders,  and  the  going  and  coming  of 
aides,  as  the  hum  of  excitement  and  preparation  filled  the 
brigade  quarters.  Presently,  from  every  side  pulsed  the 
rhythmic  rattle  and  beat  of  a  hundred  snare-drums,  swelling 
each  moment  in  speed  and  power,  until  the  woods  rever- 
berated with  the  call  to  arms.  The  men  heard  for  the  first 
time  the  "  long  roll  "  and  fell  into  line  with  quickening 
heart-beats. 

Pat  Reed,  the  Color  Sergeant  of  Company  I,  had  been 
sick  since  the  last  review  of  the  division,  where  he  had 
sprained  his  side,  and  Colonel  Sweeny  had  asked  Jerome 
Davis  to  act  as  Color  Sergeant  and  to  carry  the  colors  of  the 
regiment  until  Reed  was  well.  He  was  given  five  picked 
men  as  his  Color  Guard,  and  so  it  came  about  that  the 
college  student  and  not  the  big  Irishman,  held  the  battle 
flag  of  the  Fifty-second  in  its  first  engagement. 

About  half-past  eight  a  youthful  staff  officer,  riding  a 
foaming  horse,  dashed  up  to  Colonel  Sweeny,  and  saluting 
cried:  —  "They're  cutting  Prentiss  and  Sherman  to  pieces, 
Sir;  General  McClernand  requests  that  you  advance  your 
brigade,  at  once,  to  reinforce  his  left  center."  The  brigade 
was  wheeled  to  the  right  and  put  at  the  double-quick  up 
the  Corinth  road  toward  the  front.1 

As  the  brigade  struck  the  road,  it  passed  a  stream  of 
stragglers  and  wounded  men  moving  to  the  rear.  Ambu- 
lances full  of  wounded  went  groaning  by,  while  many  with 
less  serious  wounds  were  walking,  with  arms  and  heads 
bandaged.  A  hard  sight  this,  for  unaccustomed  nerves, 
but  not  so  hard  as  the  groups  of  frightened,  demoralized 

*The  Third  Brigade  was  placed  under  the  command  of  Colonel  Sweeny  and  in  ad- 
dition to  the  Fifty-second,  was  made  up  of  the  Seventh,  Fiftieth,  Fifty-seventh  and 
Fifty-eighth  Illinois  and  the  Eighth  Iowa  Infantry  regiments.  This  was  the  largest 
brigade  that  entered  the  Battle  of  Sliiloh,  taking  into  action  4,198  officers  and  men. 


THE  BATTLE  OF  SHILOH  37 

men,  without  rifles,  without  haversacks  or  canteens,  in 
many  cases  without  hats  and  coats,  who  were  skulking 
through  the  woods  toward  the  river.  Some  were  still 
running;  others  exhausted,  were  sitting  beside  the  road, 
utterly  confused,  holding  their  heads  in  their  hands.  Every 
now  and  then  the  ranks  opened  to  let  pass  an  ammunition 
wagon  with  its  four  horses  straining  through  the  mud, 
while  with  a  turmoil  of  oaths,  splashing  mud,  creaking 
harness  and  pounding  caissons,  an  Ohio  battery  of  light 
artillery  went  careering  to  the  front,  its  drivers  lashing 
the  steaming  horses  into  foam,  and  the  trim  gunners  hold- 
ing their  places  on  the  limber  boxes  with  difficulty.  Steadily 
from  the  front  came  the  swelling  roar  of  cannon  and  crash 
of  small  arms,  telling  their  own  tale  of  the  deepening 
combat. 

It  was  now  nearing  ten  o'clock.  The  Confederates  in 
three  lines  of  battle,  each  comprising  about  ten  thousand 
men,  had  deployed  into  a  semicircle  and  had  struck  with 
great  fury  all  along  the  front  line  of  Union  camps.  Pren- 
tiss'  raw  division,  surprised  in  its  tents,  had  been  driven 
back;  Sherman's  left  had  been  turned  with  the  breaking  of 
Hildebrand's  Brigade,  and  thus  both  McClernand  and 
Sherman  with  their  flanks  exposed,  had  been  forced  back 
to  new  positions  behind  the  Purdy  road. 

Wallace's  Third  Division  was  ordered  to  support  Pren- 
tiss,  and,  together  with  Hurlbut,  occupied  a  strong  position 
at  the  crest  of  a  thickly  wooded  slope.  Here,  into  the  slight 
hollow  of  a  washed-out  road,  the  men  of  the  Second  and 
Third  Divisions  threw  themselves,  and  here  they  fought 
for  six  hours,  resisting  the  tremendous  attacks  launched 
against  them  by  General  Bragg.  Between  the  right  of  this 
strong  position  and  the  left  of  McClernand 's  line  was  a 
dangerous  gap  into  which  Hardee  was  directing  a  mass  of 
Louisiana  troops  to  break  the  Union  center.  Sweeny's 
Brigade  was  thrown  into  this  gap. 


38  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

As  the  Fifty-second  neared  the  front,  it  came  within 
range  of  the  Confederate  batteries,  and  shells  and  round 
shot  began  to  fall  over  and  among  the  men.  Trees  a  foot 
in  diameter,  lopped  off  at  the  base,  would  fall  across  the 
road  and  branches  and  twigs  began  to  fly  in  every  direc- 
tion. The  men  could  not  realize  the  power  of  the  spent, 
round  shot,  which  seemed  to  come  so  slowly  and  to  pass  so 
silently  to  the  rear.  One  man  put  his  foot  out  to  stop  a 
rapidly  rolling  ball  and  the  foot  was  severed  at  the  ankle. 
Some  came  ricochetting  slowly  enough  for  the  men  to 
open  ranks  and  let  them  through,  others  came  so  rapidly 
that  several  men  would  be  killed  or  wounded.  A  round 
shot  from  a  thirty-pound  Parrott  struck  a  private  full  in 
the  chest,  cut  him  nearly  in  two,  lopped  the  arm  off  of 
the  man  behind,  and  buried  itself  in  the  flank  of  a  great 
roan  mare  attached  to  an  ammunition  wagon.  The  ani- 
mal's scream  shocked  the  brigade;  there  was  an  ugly  gap 
in  Company  D,  and  work  for  the  regimental  surgeon. 
The  line  closed  up  and  swung  forward  on  the  double-quick. 
And  so  the  Fifty-second,  the  Dundee  boys  of  Company  I, 
leading  with  the  regimental  colors,  wheeled  into  battle  line 
and  received  its  baptism  of  fire. 

Ordered  to  lie  down  on  the  slope  of  a  hill  to  the  right 
and  in  support  of  their  division  commander,  they  watched 
for  two  hours  the  tremendous  fury  of  the  assaults  of 
General  Bragg  upon  the  Second  and  Third  Divisions.  Lying 
in  the  sunken  road  and  behind  a  thicket  straggling  up  a 
long  slope,  the  Federal  troops  could  sweep  the  approach 
with  a  storm  of  minie  bullets  and  shells  from  their  bat- 
teries. Here  they  saw  brigade  after  brigade  of  hitherto 
victorious  Confederates  sweep  with  splendid  dash  up  the 
slope,  only  to  fall  back  in  shattered  fragments  before  the 
blazing  line  of  Federal  fire.  The  Confederates  gave  this 
awful  slope  the  name  of  the  "  Hornet's  Nest." 

It    was  a  severe    experience  for  a  first  battle:  two    hun- 


THE  BATTLE  OF  SHILOH  39 

dred  cannon  incessantly  booming,  shaking  the  earth  and 
throwing  a  gray  pall  of  smoke,  which  hung  in  sulphurous 
masses  over  the  woods.  Between  and  above  the  concus- 
sions of  the  great  rifled  guns,  crashed  the  steady  roar  of 
small  arms  playing  the  treble  of  the  iron  orchestra.  Shells 
were  bursting  over  and  in  front  of  the  reclining  men. 
There  came  a  blinding  flash,  an  ear-rending  detonation,  and 
a  four-inch  shell  burst  in  front  of  Company  I.  As  the 
smoke  cleared  away,  two  boys,  one  holding  his  head  where 
the  scalp  was  torn  away,  lay  writhing  on  the  ground. 
Jerome  Davis  had  heard  the  whistle  of  hurtling  steel,  as  a 
jagged  piece  of  shell  passed  a  few  inches  from  his  head 
and  buried  itself  in  the  bank  behind  him.  Will  Harlow  of 
Dundee  heard  it,  too,  for  it  fanned  the  faces  of  both  men  as 
they  lay  close  together. 

The  strain  of  inaction  was  telling  upon  the  Fifty-second 
reserves,  who  were  witnesses,  but  not  participants  in  these 
fearful  scenes.  Every  now  and  then  a  shot  would  wound 
or  kill  one  of  the  men,  while  the  fearful  uproar  and  sights 
of  death  and  heroism  had  worked  the  men  far  past  the 
fighting  pitch.  As  yet  the  reserve  column  had  not  fired  a 
shot. 

The  day  swung  by  the  burning  hour  of  noon,  and  still 
the  Confederate  attack,  like  a  mighty  iron  flail,  beat  with 
the  alternate  pulsations  of  a  great  engine,  first  on  the  one 
flank,  then  the  other  of  the  Federal  lines.  The  Confederates 
came  in  crowding,  rhythmic  charges,  concentrating  superior 
numbers  at  nearly  every  point  of  attack.  Sherman  and 
McClernand,  repeatedly  outflanked,  were  steadily  forced 
back  toward  the  river.  Sherman  made  one  gallant  stand 
after  another,  but  many  of  his  raw  troops  ran  like  sheep  at 
the  first  charge  of  an  enemy  that  kept  coming  on  and  on, 
unmindful  of  the  gaps  in  his  lines. 

About  half-past  twelve,  McClernand  and  Sherman 
decided  to  fall  back  to  a  third  line  of  defence  along  the 


40  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

Savannah  Road,  about  a  mile  from  the  river,  where  their 
left  flank  would  be  conterminous  with  the  Third  Division 
at  the  "  Hornet's  Nest."  During  this  change  in  position 
of  the  Union  lines,  General  Hardee  sent  in  Pond  with  three 
Louisiana  regiments  and  Wharton's  Cavalry  to  break  up  the 
disordered  Federal  divisions  before  their  new  position  could 
be  formed.  Colonel  Sweeny  ordered  the  Fifty-second  Illi- 
nois to  oppose  this  Confederate  force  which  was  swinging 
in  to  flank  McClernand  from  the  right.  As  the  men  got 
under  way,  they  saw  a  splendid  body  of  cavalry,  Wharton's 
Texas  Rangers,  charging  at  a  trot  across  an  open  field  —  big, 
lean,  bronzed,  men  from  the  plains,  riding  with  the  ease 
of  cowboys,  scattering  before  them  a  broken  regiment  of 
Wisconsin  volunteers,  whose  German  colonel  was  stoutly 
trying  to  rally  them.  On  came  the  victorious  Texans, 
their  pace  increased  to  a  gallop,  riding  in  solid  ranks  with 
flying  banners  and  flourishing  swords.  Their  commander 
led  on  a  black  horse,  coming  in  great  bounds  at  the  head  of 
his  troop. 

"  Attention!  Battalion!  on  the  double-quick!  march!!  " 
A  line  officer  roared  the  command.  The  Fifty-second 
charged  up  the  hill  at  the  four  hundred  flashing  sabers, 
and  at  frightfully  short  range,  halted,  took  deliberate  aim 
and  fired  a  volley  into  the  faces  of  the  oncoming  squadron. 
Full  two  hundred  bullets  found  their  mark.  The  carnage 
was  awful;  half  the  horses  were  riderless,  as  the  troop 
wheeled  in  retreat  and  dashed  back  across  the  field.  Here 
and  there,  riders  in  falling  had  caught  a  foot  in  the  stirrup, 
their  bodies  striking  the  ground  but  once  in  ten  or  fifteen 
feet  as  the  horses  rushed  back  on  the  keen  run.  The 
tension  was  broken,  the  men  had  tasted  blood,  had  seen 
the  enemy  in  wild  retreat,  and  were  eager  to  be  led  forward. 

From  now  on  till  the  end  of  the  day,  the  regiment 
fought  under  the  command  of  McClernand  and  Sherman, 
on  the  right  wing  of  the  Federal  battle  line.  Hitherto  it 


THE  BATTLE  OF  SHILOH  41 

had  been  detached  from  the  brigade,  but  now  joined  its 
fellow  regiments  and,  with  them,  went  under  the  immediate 
command  of  Colonel  Sweeny.  With  its  colonel  leading  the 
brigade,  its  lieutenant-colonel  absent  on  leave,  and  its 
major  injured  early  in  the  day,  all  through  the  confusion 
and  carnage  of  that  afternoon,  the  regiment  had  no  regular 
commander,  the  company  captains  acting  in  concert. 
When  the  regiment  moved,  the  companies  formed  on  the 
colors  in  the  center  of  the  line,  which  soon  became  the 
soul  of  the  regiment  and  gave  the  signal  for  advance  or 
retreat. 

The  Confederate  attack  was  now  concentrated  upon  the 
right  flank  of  the  Union  army.  Heavy  masses  of  troops 
were  moving  to  the  right,  in  Hardee's  effort  to  turn  this 
wing  and  crumple  it  up  upon  the  center,  as  Breckenridge 
was  rolling  Hurlbut  and  Stuart  up  on  the  left.  Johnston's 
plan  was  to  catch  the  Federal  army  between  these  two 
flanking  movements  and  crush  or  capture  it. 

The  Fifty-second  was  ordered  to  the  support  of  Silver- 
sparre's  battery,  which  from  a  rounded  knoll  above  Till- 
man  Creek  was  pouring  a  rapid  fire  into  the  enemy,  now 
deploying  out  of  the  woods  to  the  right.  "  Defend  these 
guns,"  cried  Sweeny.  "  If  the  Rebels  try  to  capture  them, 
destroy  them."  He  rode  rapidly  down  the  line,  the  reins 
held  in  his  teeth,  his  only  arm  grasping  the  drawn  sword; 
an  erect,  slight  figure,  with  military  bearing  and  com- 
manding eyes.  The  Illinois  men  lay  down  a  little  to  the 
rear  of  the  battery.  The  four  rifled  guns  were  doing  splen- 
did work.  Company  I  had  never  seen  a  battery  in  close 
action  before.  The  gunners  were  serving  the  pieces,  with 
clock-like  precision,  loading,  firing  and  sponging  with  speed 
and  accuracy.  At  the  discharge  of  a  piece,  the  gun  car- 
riage leapt  from  the  ground,  a  jet  of  flame,  twrice  the 
length  of  the  gun,  shot  from  its  mouth,  and  the  shell  tore 
wide  gaps  in  the  oncoming  lines  of  gray. 


42  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

Suddenly,  out  of  a  copse,  eighty  rods  to  the  right,  came 
a  body  of  men  in  four  files,  on  the  run.  They  were  dressed 
in  blue,  sons  of  wealthy  citizens  in  New  Orleans,  the 
"  Crescent  Zouaves,"  the  pride  of  Pond's  Brigade.  They 
were  so  near  that  the  Dundee  men  could  hear  the  order  of 
their  officers,  as  they  executed  the  movement,  "  on  the 
right,  by  file,  into  line."  Their  eyes  were  on  the  prize  of 
the  battery  and  they  had  not  yet  seen  the  Northern  regi- 
ment lying  in  the  grass  behind. 

"  Steady,  men,  steady  !  "  cried  Captain  Bowen.  A  click 
of  lifting  hammers  ran  down  the  long  blue  line  in  the 
grass;  some  of  the  men  swore  deeply  under  their  breath. 
The  handsome  regiment  of  Zouaves,  flushed  with  the  ex- 
pected capture,  were  closing  in  a  semicircle  around  the 
battery,  whose  gunners  still  worked  like  automatons  at  the 
pieces;  the  Rebel  color-sergeant,  a  boy  of  twenty,  was 
urging  his  men  on  like  a  commissioned  officer.  When 
twenty  rods  away,  up  flashed  Captain  Bowen's  sword :  — 
"  Attention!  Battalion!  take  aim!  fire!!  "  As  one  man, 
the  regiment  rose,  took  deliberate  aim,  and  six  hundred 
rifles  crashed  into  the  doomed  Zouaves.  They  all  dropped 
as  if  dead.  Nearly  one  half  were  either  killed  or  so  badly 
wounded  that  they  lay  where  they  fell.  The  remainder 
rolled  over  and  over,  behind  trees  and  logs,  until  they 
reached  the  Confederate  line. 

With  a  cheer,  the  Fifty-second  charged  and  gained  the 
top  of  the  ridge,  which  was  covered  with  the  dead  and 
dying  Confederates.  Of  this  charge  and  the  subsequent 
fighting,  Corporal  Davis'  diary  records: — "The  flag  went 
as  fast  and  as  far  as  anybody.  I  leaped  over  the  bodies 
of  several  dead  men  before  I  halted.  The  enemy  were  in 
plain  sight,  three  hundred  yards  distant,  advancing  slowly 
to  our  right.  I  picked  up  the  gun  of  a  dead  man,  which 
seemed  to  be  loaded  and  capped,  but  it  would  not  go  off. 
This  was  the  nearest  that  I  came  to  firing  a  gun  at 


THE  BATTLE  OF  SHILOH  43 

the  enemy  during  the  four  years  that  I  was  in  the 
service. 

"  I  soon  found  it  was  serious  business  to  hold  the  flag 
in  battle.  It  seemed  as  if  the  whole  Confederate  Army 
were  firing  at  the  flag-bearer.  I  took  refuge  behind  a  large 
tree,  three  feet  in  diameter,  since  all  the  men  had  been 
ordered  to  take  advantage  of  any  cover  they  could  get. 
But  some  fifteen  men  wanted  the  protection  of  the  same 
tree,  standing  behind  it  while  loading  and  stepping  out  to 
fire.  I  saw  that  my  flag  was  drawing  the  fire  of  the  enemy 
into  this  squad  of  men;  several  were  already  wounded, 
and  I  felt  I  could  not  remain.  So,  I  left  my  large  tree  and 
rushed  forward  to  a  little  tree,  six  inches  in  diameter,  and 
stood  holding  the  flag  while  pressing  my  shoulder  and  side 
against  this  tree.  But  the  excited  men  behind  were  firing 
so  carelessly  that  their  balls  fanned  my  face,  and  I  feared 
I  would  be  shot  in  the  back;  so  I  returned  and  stood  on 
the  open  top  of  the  ridge  with  no  protection.  I  stood  there 
about  thirty-five  minutes.  It  was  an  indescribable  experi- 
ence. The  bullets  fell  like  hail  in  the  gravel  at  my  feet; 
they  fanned  my  face;  they  pierced  my  clothes,  they  slightly 
wounded  both  legs  just  below  the  knee;  they  riddled  the 
flag.  I  expected  every  second  to  be  killed. 

"  After  about  twenty  minutes,  I  looked  back  and  saw 
another  regiment  lying  down  not  far  away;  the  color-  ser- 
geant was  also  lying  down  flat,  and  holding  up  his  flag- 
staff, around  which  the  flag  was  wound,  closely  furled.  I 
thought  it  would  be  a  great  relief  if  I  could  hold  the  flag 
in  that  way.  Just  then,  Colonel  Sweeny  rode  up  and 
coolly  sat  on  his  horse  a  few  paces  to  my  right  and  rear. 
I  turned,  marched  up  to  him  and  saluting  asked:  —  "  Col- 
onel, how  should  the  flag  be  carried  in  time  of  battle, 
furled  or  unfurled?  "  His  black  eyes  looked  at  me  as  if 
they  would  pierce  me  through,  and  shaking  his  left,  his 
only  hand  at  me,  he  shouted,  "  Keep  them  unfurled,  Sir, 


44  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

and  defend  them  with  your  life/'  I  had  hardly  strength 
enough  left  to  turn  and  walk  back,  but  I  did  and  stood 
there  for  fifteen  minutes  longer,  in  the  midst  of  the  leaden 
hail." 

The  afternoon  was  wearing  toward  its  close.  Beauregard, 
in  command  since  the  death  of  Johnston,  now  concen- 
trated for  a  supreme  effort  to  crush  Sherman  and  McCler- 
nand  at  their  last  stand  on  the  Savannah  Road.  Leonidas 
Polk,  the  "  Fighting  Bishop  of  the  Confederacy,"  was 
ordered  in  with  his  fresh  brigades,  to  reinforce  Hardee  and 
Pond.  Brigade  after  brigade  was  sent  in,  deployed  across 
the  open  and  recoiled  from  the  withering  Federal  fire. 
Colonel  Sweeny  says:  —  "The  battle  here  raged  furiously, 
the  enemy  bringing  up  fresh  troops  constantly.  Having 
no  artillery  we  fought  to  great  disadvantage;  nevertheless, 
my  men  acted  with  the  most  determined  bravery.  Each 
man  seemed  to  feel  as  if  the  fate  of  the  day  depended  upon 
his  conduct  alone,  knowing,  as  he  did,  that  if  we  could 
keep  the  enemy  at  bay  until  Buell's  troops  crossed  the 
river,  the  army  would  be  saved." 

The  ridge  held  by  the  Federal  line  was  an  extremely 
exposed  position,  but  it  commanded  the  approach  in  front, 
which  it  swept  with  an  unbroken  line  of  fire.  The  Con- 
federate brigades  were  sent  in  to  the  attack  like  gray  waves 
beating  up  the  slope  out  of  the  woods;  stopping  for  cover 
at  fences,  broken  ground  or  fallen  trees,  loading  and  firing 
and  rushing  on  to  the  next  line  of  cover.  The  ridge  must 
be  carried;  Sherman's  right  wing  must  be  broken,  or  the 
day  was  lost  to  the  South. 

For  a  few  minutes  there  came  a  lull  in  the  attack,  an 
ominous  quiet  before  the  gathering  of  the  storm.  Out  of 
the  woods  across  the  gentle  vale  to  the  south,  came  a  mag- 
nificent line  of  men  —  Barksdale's  Mississippians  and  Folk's 
Louisianians ;  on  they  came  in  four  compact  columns,  two 
full  brigades,  swinging  across  the  open,  with  regular  rhythm 


THE  BATTLE  OF  SHILOH  45 

and  formation,  as  if  on  dress  parade.  The  front  rank 
leaped  the  rail  fence,  without  stopping  to  fire;  into  the 
dry  gully  at  the  foot  of  the  slope  and  out  on  its  upper  side, 
surged  the  Confederate  lines,  tall,  gaunt,  bearded  men.  The 
Dundee  boys  could  see  their  slouch  hats  pulled  down  over 
their  eyes,  could  count  the  stars  in  their  blood-red  battle 
flags.  The  Federal  line  was  blazing  now  and  men  were 
dropping  fast,  but  still  they  came. 

Jerome  Davis,  standing  with  the  battle  flag  of  his  regi- 
ment, four  out  of  five  of  his  color  guard  killed  or  wounded 
in  the  grass  around  him,  suddenly  realized  that  he  was 
almost  alone.  The  firing  of  his  regiment  had  slackened. 
Looking  around,  he  could  see  the  boys  of  the  Fifty-second 
dropping  back  to  a  second  line  of  defence  in  the  woods 
behind  the  ridge.  Panic  had  seized  them;  cover  of  some 
kind  must  be  had  to  stop  that  rolling  flood  that  momen- 
tarily threatened  to  engulf  them.  The  blood  of  his  fore- 
fathers surged  through  the  young  body  of  the  color-bearer 
of  the  Fifty-second.  Was  it  for  this  that  they  had  fought 
and  strained  through  the  fearful  hours  of  that  bloody  day; 
for  this  that  he  had  watched  his  comrades  fall  by  the 
thousand  under  the  bullets  of  that  gray  host;  for  this  that 
his  forefathers  had  risked  all,  to  build  up  a  free  and  united 
nation;  was  that  glorious  flag  above  him,  into  which  his 
kin  had  helped  to  place  new  stars,  to  be  torn  and  trampled 
by  southern  traitors?  Not  yet,  by  God's  help,  not  yet! 
The  slender  form  stiffened  against  the  weight  of  the  great 
flag ;  it  whipped  slowly  back  and  forth  in  the  faces  of  the  on- 
coming Confederates,  and  above  the  song  of  the  "minies"  and 
dull  roar  of  battle,  high  and  clear  he  sang  the  rally  cry  of  the 
Republic : 

"  The  Union  forever,  Hurrah  boys!  Hurrah! 

Down  with  the  traitors  and  up  with  the  flag, 

For  we'll  rally  round  the  flag,  boys, 

Rally  once  again, 

Shouting  the  battle  cry  of  '  Freedom.'  " 


46  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

The  wounded  men  in  the  grass  around  the  flag,  joined  in 
the  refrain,  the  company  captains  took  it  up,  and  with  a 
rush  the  Fifty-second  came  back  to  the  ridge;  the  gap  in 
the  line  was  filled;  Mississippi  and  Louisiana  fought  stub- 
bornly, but  reeled  back  across  the  slope  to  cover,  leaving  a 
carpet  of  dead  and  wounded  like  autumn  leaves  on  a  wind- 
swept road. 

The  fighting  Confederate  bishop  had  learned  a  lesson  and 
now   sent   heavy   out-flanking   columns   to   left   and   right. 
Sweeny  despatched  an  orderly  to  the  left  and  a  staff  officer 
to  the  right  to  see  how  the  fight  was  progressing.     The 
orderly  brought  word  that  he  could  see  nothing  but  the 
enemy  and  that  the  brigade  would  be  surrounded  in  ten 
minutes.    The    staff    officer    reported    that    Sherman    had 
fallen  back,  out  of  sight,  and  that  the  enemy  were  turning 
the  right  flank.    The  ridge  must  be  abandoned.    The  order 
for    retreat    was    given.     Jerome    Davis    began    to    march 
slowly  backward,  holding  the  flag  aloft,  with  the  regiment 
in  line  of  battle  a  few  rods  to  the  rear.     Presently  numb- 
ness seized  him,  and  with  no  sense  of  pain  the  blood  came 
with  a  rush   from  his  left  leg.     A  minie  ball   had   plowed 
through  the  thigh  close  to  the  body.     Staggering  to  a  tree, 
he  supported  himself  and  the  flag  against  it,  without  letting 
the  colors  fall  or  touch  the  ground.     A  comrade  grasped 
the  staff,  as  he  sank  to  the  ground,  weak  with  loss  of  blood. 
That  morning,  while  in  line  of  battle  in  front  of  the  camp 
he  had  returned  to  his  tent  to  get  the  towel  given  him  by 
his  Aunt  Mercy  Wilder  to  meet  just  such  an  emergency  as 
this.     To  the  forethought  of  the  dear  old  aunt,  no  less  than 
his  own  presence  of  mind,  he  now  owed  his  life  a  second 
time.     With   his   life-blood   ebbing  in   jets   from   the   great 
hole  that  had  severed  the  main  artery,  he  kept  his  head 
and   insisted     that    the   bandage   be    adjusted    above    the 
wound,  and  so  checked  the  flow.     He  tied  his  handkerchief 
in  a  hard  knot,  placed  it  under  the  bandage  just  over  the 


THE  BATTLE  OF  SHILOH  47 

artery,  and  with  a  small  stick  which  was  within  reach,  in- 
serted in  the  bandage,  twisted  it  until  the  flow  entirely 
ceased.  Then  he  fainted  away. 

Captain  Brown,  who  had  run  to  his  assistance,  thought 
that  he  was  dying,  and  seeing  the  enemy  advancing  on 
three  sides,  rejoined  his  retreating  regiment.  After  falling 
back  some  distance,  the  captain  looked  about  and  saw  that 
the  stricken  corporal  had  revived  enough  to  raise  his  head. 
"Jerome  is  alive,  boys;  don't  let  the  Rebs  get  him,"  he 
cried,  and  started  back  through  a  rain  of  bullets  in  the 
face  of  the  oncoming  enemy.  Two  other  Dundee  boys, 
Jake  Brinkerhof  and  Milo  Sherman,  followed  their  captain 
back  through  that  leaden  storm,  picked  up  their  uncon- 
scious comrade  and  carried  him  in  their  arms  to  the  rear. 
It  had  taken  the  final  moment  of  the  battle  and  apparent 
defeat  to  produce  the  high-water  mark  of  heroism  in  this 
devoted  act  of  friendship. 

Years  did  not  dull  the  memory  of  the  anguish  of  the 
following  hours.  In  spite  of  earnest  pleading  that  he  be 
left  to  die  on  the  field,  his  comrades  carried  him  to  the 
landing  and  placed  him  upon  one  of  the  hospital  ships 
that  were  rapidly  filling  with  the  army  of  sorely  wounded. 

Night  was  falling.  The  force  of  the  Condeferate  attack 
had  beaten  itself  out  upon  the  heroic  resistance  of  the 
Northern  troops.  Surprised,  routed,  disorganized,  out- 
numbered and  outgeneralled,  Grant's  army  had  fought  at 
bay,  from  dawn  till  dark,  and  now  exhausted  but  unde- 
feated, with  fifteen  thousand  men  in  battle  line,  with  their 
backs  to  the  deep  river,  with  a  whole  brigade  in  the  hands 
of  the  enemy,  with  thousands  of  demoralized  deserters 
huddling  under  the  banks  of  the  river,  and  over  ten  thou- 
sand of  its  bravest  men  dead  or  wounded,  it  bivouacked  for 
the  night  upon  its  arms  and  awaited  the  issue  of  the  mor- 
row. With  the  arrival  of  Buell's  Corps  during  the  night, 
Beauregard's  opportunity  of  crushing  the  two  Federal 


48  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

armies,  separately,  vanished,  and  the  sunset  of  the  second 
day's  battle  saw  the  Confederate  columns  in  full  retreat 
upon  Corinth. 

The  long  fight  for  life  began  on  the  deck  of  the  river 
steamer,  where  for  three  days  and  nights,  without  blankets, 
without  food,  without  surgical  attention,  in  drenching  rains 
and  burning  sun,  the  stricken  heroes  lay  and  suffered  and 
wondered  why  their  lives  had  been  spared  for  such  misery 
as  this.  Through  those  terrible  hours,  Jerome  Davis  had 
kept  fast  hold  of  the  stick  which  had  stopped  the  hem- 
orrhage of  his  wound,  and  though  the  leg  was  swollen  to 
nearly  twice  its  normal  size,  the  wound  began  to  heal.  The 
diary  throws  a  brighter  light  on  the  picture.  It  tells  of  a 
comrade,  Simpson,  wounded  in  his  arm,  who  could  carry 
water,  while  Davis  with  the  use  of  his  arms  could  dress 
wounds;  the  orange  given  him  by  another  wounded  friend, 
the  only  food  of  the  three  days,  and  the  wonderful  nectar 
of  its  juice;  the  German  captain  who  donated  dry  flannel 
underclothes  to  the  drenched  and  chilled  sufferer;  the  joy 
of  being  found  by  his  company  mates,  who  wrapped  him 
in  warm  blankets,  carried  him  to  camp  and  put  him  to  bed 
in  his  own  tent;  the  tears  of  happiness  shed,  as  they  loaded 
him  with  comforts  and  kindnesses,  and  nursed  him  back  to 
life. 

Here,  he  first  learned  of  the  death  of  his  friend  and 
company  mate,  Sergeant  Samuel  Anderson,  who  was  shot 
through  the  breast,  while  kneeling  to  fire,  during  that  ter- 
rible retreat  from  the  ridge. 

After  a  week  in  camp,  there  followed  the  tedious  voyage 
on  the  boiler  deck  of  a  river  steamer,  when,  with  hundreds 
of  other  wounded,  he  was  slowly  carried  toward  the  north. 
Arrived  at  St.  Louis,  he  was  placed  on  a  Chicago  and  Alton 
train  and,  after  two  more  days,  the  home  in  Dundee  was 
entered,  and  three  weeks  after  the  battle,  his  first  real  medi- 
cal attention  was  received.  For  six  weeks,  the  young  sol- 


THE  BATTLE  OF  SHILOH  49 

dier  hovered  between  life  and  death,  but  his  splendid 
constitution,  with  the  tender  nursing  of  his  devoted  Aunt 
Mercy,  won  the  long  combat,  and  toward  the  end  of  June 
he  began  to  sit  up  for  a  few  minutes  each  day. 


CHAPTER  VI 
ON  GENERAL  SWEENY'S  STAFF 

JULY  brought  returning  strength,  and  as  soon  as  he 
was  able  to  walk  with  crutches,  he  decided  to  visit  his 
brothers  in  Homer,  New  York.  After  a  month  in  the 
East,  he  was  put  on  recruiting  service  in  Dundee  and  in  Sep- 
tember went  to  Beloit  to  get  his  books  and  effects  which  were 
stored  there.  Here  a  temptation  awaited  him.  President 
Chapin  suggested  that  now,  after  his  severe  wound  and  a  year's 
service  in  the  army,  his  duty  to  his  country  was  fulfilled, 
and  it  would  be  entirely  fitting  for  him  to  go  back  to  col- 
lege and  finish  his  education.  The  argument  was  plaus- 
ible; it  accorded  with  his  own  desires;  the  college  year 
would  open  in  five  days.  Under  the  oaks  on  the  beautiful 
campus,  he  fought  it  out.  The  lure  of  academic  seclusion, 
the  spell  of  the  college  library,  the  thirst  for  knowledge, 
were  strong  upon  him.  And  yet,  far  to  the  south,  sleeping 
under  the  stars,  marching  over  endless  roads,  meeting,  per- 
haps, those  same  waves  of  oncoming  gray,  were  the  Dundee 
boys,  the  boys  of  Company  I.  No  faltering  now.  His 
country  needed  him  still.  He  packed  his  effects,  shipped 
them  to  Dundee,  and  applied  to  be  sent  back  to  his  regi- 
ment. 

At  Springfield,  111.,  he  reported  at  the  Adjutant-General's 
office.  The  clerk  in  charge,  on  hearing  his  name  and  com- 
pany number,  handed  him  an  official  document.  It  was  a 
commission  as  Second  Lieutenant  in  Company  I,  Fifty- 
second  Illinois  Volunteer  Infantry  Regiment,  signed  by 
the  Quarter-master-general  of  the  U.  S.  Army  and  marked, 
— "  For  meritorious  conduct  at  the  Battle  of  Pittsburg 
Landing."  Of  the  receipt  of  the  commission  and  the  try- 

50 


ON  GENERAL  SWEENY'S  STAFF  51 

ing  experience  to  which  it  introduced  him,  he  wrote,  — "  I 
could  hardly  believe  my  eyes  nor  understand  how  it  had 
come  about,  but,  of  course,  accepted  the  commission,  and  as 
I  could  not  purchase  an  officer's  outfit  at  the  front,  bought 
uniform,  sword,  etc.,  and  was  at  once  put  in  charge  of  125 
men  who  were  to  join  their  regiments  at  Corinth.  We 
reached  St.  Louis  at  eleven  o'clock  at  night,  but  as  there 
was  a  large  ball  in  progress,  not  an  officer  was  to  be  found 
at  Headquarters.  So  I  told  the  men  to  take  care  of  them- 
selves until  morning  and  meet  me  at  the  landing.  I  took 
fifteen  of  the  men  of  my  own  regiment  and  tried  to  find  a 
place  to  stay.  We  soon  came  to  the  Planter's  Hotel.  I 
asked  the  clerk  what  he  would  charge  for  lodging  us.  He 
named  a  very  high  price.  I  asked  him  if  he  charged  sol- 
diers such  a  price  as  that.  He  replied  that  they  did  not 
care  to  entertain  soldiers.  I  then  went  to  the  door,  marched 
my  men  in,  and  we  spread  out  blankets  on  the  marble  floor 
of  the  parlor  and  slept  till  morning.  The  proprietor  looked 
daggers  at  us  the  next  morning,  but  said  nothing;  neither 
did  I  raise  the  question  of  paying  anything  again. 

"  We  reached  Corinth  at  night.  At  roll-call  I  was  sur- 
prised that  only  five  or  six  of  my  company  came  and  spoke 
to  me.  They  were  all  friends  when  I  went  away.  After 
roll-call  the  first  sergeant  took  my  arm  and  we  went  down 
to  the  tent  of  the  first  lieutenant,  and  he  soon  told  me 
what  was  the  matter.  The  company  had  elected  First 
Sergeant  Bailey  as  second  lieutenant.  Captain  Brown  re- 
quested Colonel  Sweeny  to  send  to  Governor  Yates  for  a 
commission  for  Sergeant  Bailey.  The  colonel  asked  him 
whom  he  would  recommend  as  first  sergeant  in  place  of  Ser- 
geant Bailey.  He  replied  that  he  would  recommend  Ser-^ 
geant  Davis,  for  the  position.  Sweeny  exclaimed,  '  Davis, 
Davis,  is  that  man  in  your  company?  I  shall  promote 
that  man,  Sir,  shall  promote  that  man!'  And  promote 
him  he  did,  though  all  the  field  officers  of  the  regiment 


52  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

sent  a  petition  to  the  Governor  to  commission  Sergeant 
Bailey.  This  was  the  greatest  trial  I  had  ever  met.  I 
tried  to  resign,  but  could  not.  So  I  accepted  the  inevi- 
table and  began  my  work  with  the  company.  After  a  few 
days  when  they  found  out  that  I  had  really  nothing  to  do 
with  the  matter,  they  all  became  friendly  again." 

Soon  after  Lieutenant  Davis'  return  to  his  regiment,  the 
first  lieutenant  of  his  company  was  detailed  on  staff  duty 
at  brigade  headquarters,  and  while  the  captain  was  sick, 
the  command  of  the  company  fell  upon  him.  Corinth  was 
surrounded  by  Confederate  guerilla  bands  and  many  at- 
tempts were  made  to  intercept  them.  Company  I  found 
that  it  was  discouraging  business  for  infantry  to  chase 
mounted  troopers.  December  9th,  1862,  the  regiment 
started  on  an  expedition  into  Alabama  to  disperse  a  force 
of  cavalry  under  Colonel  Roddy.  The  men  were  loaded 
into  wagons,  twelve  to  a  team.  At  Big  Bear  Creek  the 
enemy  made  a  determined  stand. 

The  Fifty-second  was  ordered  down  from  the  wagons  and 
formed  in  battle  line  to  charge  the  enemy.  "  When  I 
heard  the  sharp  crack  of  rifles,  it  brought  back  all  the 
horrors  of  Shiloh,  and  for  a  few  minutes  completely  un- 
nerved me.  It  took  all  my  will  power  to  move  at  all.  It 
seemed  as  if  I  could  not  stand.  But  I  gathered  myself 
together,  formed  my  company  and  we  started  on.  My 
fear  lasted,  perhaps,  for  five  minutes  and  then  passed 
away  forever.  I  never  had  such  a  sensation  again  in  the 
nineteen  battles  and  skirmishes  of  the  war."  Company  I 
was  thrown  forward  as  skirmishers.  A  battery  of  four  guns 
stood  sharply  defined  against  the  setting  sun  on  the  oppo- 
site bank  of  the  river.  With  several  supporting  regiments 
it  poured  its  fire  full  in  the  face  of  the  advancing  lines  of 
blue.  The  enemy  were  retiring  toward  the  bridge  under 
cover  of  the  shells.  "  The  gunners  had  the  range  and  as 
we  crossed  the  open  field,  a  half  mile  wide,  to  the  river, 


ON  GENERAL  SWEENY'S  STAFF  53 

it  seemed  as  if  a  shell  or  solid  shot  passed  between  every 
two  men  in  the  line."  The  Confederates  made  good  their 
escape,  setting  fire  to  the  bridge  and  effectually  ending 
the  pursuit. 

A  night's  ride  in  the  wagons,  a  day's  march  in  the  rain, 
and  the  brigade  was  halted  to  rest.  Sweeny  ordered  the 
Dundee  Company  to  picket  the  camp  and  Lieutenant 
Davis  to  place  the  sentinels.  No  sleep  and  scant  rations 
for  forty-eight  hours  had  completely  exhausted  the  men, 
and  for  the  first  and  only  time  in  his  military  experience 
he  found  his  sentinels  asleep  at  their  posts.  "  I  spent  the 
night  in  going  the  rounds  of  the  pickets  and  waking  up  the 
men,  but  hadn't  the  heart  to  report  them.  We  marched 
the  whole  distance  to  Bear  Creek,  twenty  miles,  that  night, 
the  last  half  only  halting  ten  minutes.  As  there  were  not 
teams  enough  I  waded  the  river.  I  was  pretty  well  satis- 
fied with  my  day's  work;  having  marched  twenty-five 
miles,  run  five,  fought  a  battle,  and  waded  a  river;  pretty 
good  for  a  '  wounded  man.'  I  was  in  command  of  the 
company  and  they  all  did  well,  Davenport,  Dock,  Carnaby 
and  the  rest.  We  brought  back  forty  bales  of  cotton  and 
forty  prisoners." 

The  winter  was  occupied  with  dismal  marches  into  the 
surrounding  country  to  intercept  the  movements  of  Con- 
federate cavalry.  These  forced  marches  seldom  accom- 
plished anything  but  the  exhaustion  of  the  men.  Now  it 
was  a  hurried  night  march  to  intercept  General  Forrest  in 
an  attack  on  Jackson,  Tenn.;  again,  an  effort  to  save  a 
depot  of  military  stores  from  a  cavalry  raid.  Sometimes 
the  tired  men  caught  sight  of  the  retreating  squadrons  of 
the  enemy;  more  often  they  arrived  just  too  late  and 
marched  back  to  Corinth  again.  Sweeny's  brigade  was 
dubbed  "  The  Foot  Cavalry,"  from  the  distances  it  cov- 
ered. December  19th,  the  brigade  started  at  ten  o'clock 
at  night,  marched  all  night  and  all  the  next  day  and  into 


54  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

the  second  night,  with  only  one  halt  for  breakfast  and  five 
minute  halts  every  three  hours.  Of  those  forty  miles 
Lieutenant  Davis*  memory  was  a  nightmare.  It  was  one 
of  his  first  long  marches  after  the  healing  of  his  wound, 
from  which  he  was  still  limping.  "  The  last  ten  miles 
I  marched  in  intense  agony.  The  neck  and  back  muscles 
were  especially  excruciating.  When  we  halted  for  a  few 
minutes  I  would  lie  down  on  the  ground  and  on  getting  up 
again  it  seemed  as  if  I  could  hear  those  muscles  snap."  It 
was  some  satisfaction  to  know  that  this  fearful  march 
served  to  turn  Forrest  northwards,  where  he  was  defeated 
by  the  Jackson  forces. 

On  these  long  night  expeditions  he  marched  many  miles 
asleep:  "  Falling  asleep  until  awakened  by  stumbling  on 
some  rough  hub,  then  dozing  off  again  as  the  exhausted 
line  of  men  lurched  forward  over  the  muddy  road."  The 
rains  of  the  later  winter  made  the  roads  next  to  impassable. 
A  six  mule  team  could  draw  but  200  feet  of  lumber  through 
the  mire.  The  men  were  constantly  falling  down,  to  rise 
again  with  difficulty,  but  their  spirit  overcame  such  condi- 
tions and  found  an  outlet  in  song  and  banter.  As  they 
floundered  through  the  night,  the  boys  kept  calling  from 
one  end  of  the  command  to  the  other  in  the  language  of 
the  river  men:  "Quarter  less  twain"  ;" Three  feet";  "  No 
bottom,"  etc. 

The  brigade  was  ordered  to  winter  in  Corinth,  and  to 
build  houses  from  the  white  oak  shakes,  which  they  split 
and  made  into  clapboards.  Fifteen  men  were  quartered  in 
each  cabin.  Early  in  the  winter  Lieutentant  Davis  was 
detailed  to  drill  the  non-commissioned  officers  of  the  regi- 
ment in  the  Manual  of  Arms.  This  meant  intense  applica- 
tion on  the  "  Manual."  He  threw  himself  at  the  new  task 
with  the  same  intensity  that  marked  his  boyhood  on- 
slaughts upon  Algebra  and  had  the  satisfaction,  a  few 
months  later,  of  having  his  company  take  the  prize 


ON  GENERAL  SWEENY'S  STAFF  55 

in  a  competitive  drill  of  the  fifty  companies  of  his 
brigade. 

Late  in  February,  Dr.  Bettelheim,  who  had  worked  as  a 
missionary  in  the  Loo  Choo  Islands  in  1846,  gave  a  series 
of  lectures  on  "  Japan."  Lieutenant  Davis  heard  the  first 
of  these  lectures  with  deep  interest.  Keen  was  his  regret 
when  the  regiment  marched  way  the  following  day  to 
Jacinto.  The  lecture  to  the  crowding  soldiers  in  the  Bap- 
tist Church  of  Corinth  was  a  link  in  the  chain  of  influences 
that  resulted  in  his  sailing  to  Japan,  a  missionary,  nine 
years  later. 

These  long  winter  evenings  in  Corinth  brought  more 
time  for  study  than  ever  came  again  while  in  the  army. 
He  sent  for  his  college  text-books,  and  read  philosophy, 
Plato's  Gorgias,  Guizot's  History  of  Civilization,  the  Greek 
Testament  and  Hardee's  Tactics.  He  records  reading  most 
of  "  Demosthenes  de  Corona  "  and  the  reviewing  of  several 
Latin  authors,  and  so  far  as  the  movements  of  his  regi- 
ment permitted,  he  read  regularly  The  American  Mis- 
sionary, The  New  York  Independent  and  the  Chi- 
cago Tribune.  He  wrote  daily  entries,  throughout  the 
four  years  of  the  war,  in  a  pocket  diary  of  standard  size 
which  his  sister  supplied  him. 

One  of  the  first  appointments  made  by  General  Sweeny, 
after  promotion  to  the  command  of  his  brigade,  was  to  detail 
Lieutenant  Davis  as  Acting  Assistant  Inspector  General 
upon  his  staff.  The  promotion  came  as  a  disappointment 
to  him  for  he  preferred  to  remain  with  his  own  com- 
pany. His  first  day  at  Staff  Headquarters  proved  a  harder 
test  than  Shiloh:  "One  of  the  first  things  I  did  after 
reporting  for  duty  was  to  get  out  an  order  for  whiskey 
toddy  for  a  treat  all  around,  which  I  politely  declined. 
Then  at  dinner,  General  Sweeny  sent  for  some  beer,  which  I 
also  declined.  After  dinner  he  offered  me  a  cigar,  and 
when  I  declined  that,  too,  he  said,  with  some  warmth, 


56  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

1  Well,  where  do  you  expect  to  die  when  you  go  to!' 
But  this  was  the  last  of  it,  I  was  never  ridiculed  or  inter- 
fered with  for  my  Christian  principles."  The  general  and 
his  staff  were  genial,  large-hearted,'  manly  men.  One  of 
them  afterwards  said,  referring  to  this  event  and  Lieuten- 
ant Davis'  strict  principles:  "  His  religion  was  genuine. 
He  never  forced  it  on  others,  but  was  absolutely  true  to 
his  convictions.  His  life  backed  up  his  religion,  so  that 
every  one  honored  him  for  it." 

Of  this  experience,  he  wrote:  "  Except  that  Christ  is 
with  me,  I  am  very  lonely.  All  the  other  members  of  the 
Staff  smoke,  drink,  and  play  cards,  while  I,  alone  by  my- 
self, read  or  work  at  office  business."  He  set  himself  with 
characteristic  intensity  to  master  the  details  of  his  new 
position.  He  wrote  of  the  comparative  advantages  of  the 
appointment,  "  I  am  not  going  to  mourn  about  it.  I  am 
not  compelled  to  drink  liquor  nor  help  pay  for  much,  nor 
to  smoke  cigars,  play  cards  or  swear,  and  I  think  as  many 
times  before  I  spend  a  quarter  as  ever.  I  have  a  greater 
chance  to  discipline  my  mind,  learn  military  science  and 
human  nature,  and  am  probably  doing  my  country  more 
good  than  I  should  in  the  company.  And,  then,  it  is  an 
honorable  position,  but  this  is  the  least  to  be  considered. 
As  far  as  danger  is  concerned,  in  an  engagement  I  shall  be 
an  Aide  de  Camp  for  the  General,  and  mounted  officers  are 
in  more  danger  than  men  on  foot."  His  self-imposed  re- 
tirement from  the  staff  social  activities  made  it  possible 
for  him  to  acquire  that  thorough  familiarity  with  the 
technicalities  of  his  work  which  resulted  in  the  marked 
confidence  placed  in  him  by  his  general.  He  seems  to  have 
merited  the  praise  of  a  fellow  officer,  of  this  period,  — 
"  Lieutenant  Davis  was  a  splendid  soldier.  He  was  abso- 
lutely reliable,  dependable  through  and  through!" 

His  new  duties  included  the  daily  inspection  of  each  camp 
in  the  brigade,  covering  the  quality  of  food,  its  manner  of 


ON  GENERAL  SWEENY'S  STAFF  57 

cooking  and  serving,  the  sanitary  condition  of  the  grounds, 
the  efficiency  of  guard  patrol,  etc.  Once  a  month  came  a 
formal  inspection  of  each  brigade  in  line  of  battle,  when 
every  man's  arms,  accoutrements  and  dress  were  exam- 
ined. Each  month  a  minute  report  had  to  be  made  to  the 
Inspector  General  of  the  Army.  Occasionally,  .food  stores 
were  condemned  and  destroyed.  Sometimes  it  was  a  lot 
of  hams  that  were  so  lively  that,  as  the  boys  said,  —  "Men 
must  be  stationed  with  fixed  bayonets  to  keep  them  from 
running  away."  The  work  pressed  severely  through  the 
hot  summer  months,  Lieutenant  Davis  being  constantly  at 
his  office  desk,  or  in  and  out  of  the  saddle  in  different  parts 
of  the  brigade  camp.  "  Corinth,  June  20th.  Dear  sister: — 
I  have  been  very  busy  this  week  inspecting  the  four  regi- 
ments in  the  brigade,  one  each  day.  ...  It  seemed  queer 
to  have  a  regiment  drawn  up  in  line,  and  for  me  to  go 
around  and  inspect  their  guns,  knapsacks,  etc.,  followed  by 
a  colonel,  a  captain  and  other  officers,  listening  to  the  criti- 
cism of  a  second  lieutenant." 

The  monotony  was  varied  by  a  visit  from  the  evangelists, 
Revs.  K.  A.  Burnell  and  G.  W.  Wainright,  who  held 
meetings  with  the  soldiers.  Their  companionship  and 
spiritual  counsel  was  a  blessing  to  many,  and,  especially, 
to  Lieutenant  Davis,  who  felt  the  need  of  such  work  for 
the  men  of  his  command.  "  Corinth,  August.  17th,  1863. 
Dear  sister:  —  Mr.  Wainright  preached  a  grand  sermon 
to  our  regiment  this  afternoon.  It  seems  good  to  hear  a 
sermon  that  is  a  sermon  again.  If  our  chaplaincy  were 
vacant  we  should  hardly  let  him  go  back." 

He  was  active  during  this  same  period  in  distributing 
reading  matter  in  his  brigade  and  in  establishing  a  small, 
portable  library  for  his  own  regiment.  This  contained 
eighty  volumes  and  became  a  part  of  the  outfit  of  one  of 
the  hospital  ambulances.  For  two  and  a  half  years  this 
library  followed  the  Fifty-second  on  its  marches,  until 


58  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

it  was  abandoned  near  the  close  of  the  Carolina  campaign. 
The  books  were  loaned  to  the  men  of  the  whole  regiment 
and  were  literally  read  to  pieces.  "  La  Grange,  Sept. 
5th.  Dear  Sister:  —  It  is  the  close  of  a  very  busy  week. 
.  .  .  Three  long  reports  based  on  inspection  and  over  fifty 
papers  pertaining '  to  the  inspection  of  old  property  in  the 
brigade  .  .  .  have  passed  through  my  office  today.  It 
would  be  very  pleasant  to  come  home,  but  I  am  doing  too 
much  good  here  to  be  spared.  A  great  deal  of  filth  has 
been  removed  from  the  camps,  rations  have  been  im- 
proved and  various  abuses  checked.  Then  there  is  a  wide 
field  here  for  spiritual  work.  I  love  to  distribute  reading 
matter  to  the  soldiers,  who  are  eager  to  receive  it,  and  to 
talk  to  them  of  the  claims  of  the  Great  Captain;  but  oh, 
how  poorly  prepared  I  am  to  do  my  duty ! " 

In  the  latter  part  of  August  the  brigade  was  distrib- 
uted along  the  line  of  the  Memphis  and  Charleston  Rail- 
road, with  headquarters  at  La  Grange,  Tenn.  Shortly 
after  he  was  appointed  Acting  Assistant  Inspector  General 
of  the  Third  Division,  now  commanded  by  General  Sweeny. 
This  greatly  increased  his  responsibilities  and  pressure  of 
work,  for  it  required  constant  riding  between  the  camps  of 
the  different  commands.  "  Mon.,  7th,  Inspected  com- 
pany B.  Went  to  Grisson's  Bridge  and  inspected  the  de- 
tachment there,  and  returned  to  Germantown  and  in- 
spected the  Fifty-second  Illinois.  Tues.,  8th.  Go  to  La 
Fayette  and  inspect  the  detachment  there,  back  to  Collier- 
ville  and  finish  the  inspection  of  the  Sixty-sixth  Indiana. 
Very  hot  week.  Wed.,  7th.  Go  to  Moscow  and  inspect 
the  Seventh  Iowa.  Thurs.,  10th.  Return  to  La  Grange 
and  inspect  the  Eighteenth  111.,  and  attend  prayer- 
meeting  there  in  the  evening.  Fri.,  llth.  Inspect  the 
Fourteenth  Indiana  Battery  and  Second  Iowa  Infantry. 

"La  Grange,  Tenn.,  Sept.  17.  Dear  Father:  —  I  have 
made  two  applications  to  be  sent  back  to  the  company, 


ON  GENERAL  SWEENY'S  STAFF  59 

but  the  General  has  assigned  me  to  duty  here  as  Acting 
Assistant  Inspector  General  of  the  division.  Every  feeling 
in  my  nature  opposes  the  holding  a  position  which  should 
be  filled  by,  at  least,  a  captain,  but  as,  if  I  were  to  be  hung 
and  had  made  every  effort  in  my  power  to  save  myself,  I 
should  meet  my  fate  cheerfully,  so  now,  feeling  that  I  have 
done  all  in  my  power  to  avert  the  evil  destiny  which  seems 
to  hang  over  me,  I  shall  enter  upon  the  duties  of  my  office 
cheerfully.  I  shall  have  the  oversight  of  the  whole  divi- 
sion :  —  three  brigades  of  infantry  and  two  of  cavalry.  The 
last  ten  days  have  been  the  busiest  yet  experienced.  .  .  . 
I  had  planned  to  have  last  Sunday  to  rest  and  attend 
church  in  the  forenoon.  After  dinner  I  had  settled  down 
to  read  in  my  room,  when  up  came  a  clerk  saying  that 
Colonel  Wilson,  the  Inspector  General  of  the  Department 
of  the  Tennessee,  wished  to  see  me.  I  found  Captain  Cat- 
lin,  U.  S.  A.,  the  Corps  Inspector  there,  also,  and  he  wished 
me  to  accompany  them  on  a  tour  of  inspection,  so  ordering 
the  ambulance,  we  rode  until  night.  .  .  .  We  occupy  a 
splendid  residence  in  a  lovely  spot  for  our  headquarters. 
Some  ladies  with  a  few  officers  are  playing  the  piano  in  the 
front  parlor,  while  I  am  writing,  but  I  prefer  to  visit  at 
home,  to  associating  with  any  ladies  I  have  met  in  the 
South  yet.  The  refined  ones  are  all  *  Secesh,'  and  the  Union 
ones  are  only  about  half  civilized." 

On  July  27th,  Lieutenant  Davis  heard  of  the  death  of 
his  brother  at  the  Battle  of  Gettysburg.  John  Davis  was 
killed  in  the  historic  charge  of  the  First  Minnesota,  which 
was  sacrificed  on  the  second  day  of  the  battle  by  General 
Hancock,  while  reforming  his  broken  lines  on  Cemetery 
Ridge.  Longstreet  sent  in  two  Confederate  brigades  to 
crush  Hancock  before  Meade  could  reinforce  him.  To 
gain  time,  the  First  Minnesota  was  ordered  in  a  counter- 
charge to  temporarily  check  the  enemy.  Of  the  262  men 
who  followed  Colonel  Colville  on  this  forlorn  hope,  forty- 


60  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

seven  came  back,  but  the  215  heroes  who  fell  sold  their 
lives  so  dearly  that  ten  priceless  minutes  were  gained  for 
their  Corps  Commander,  and  Hancock  and  the  pivot  of  the 
Union  position  was  saved.  John  Davis  was  buried  in  a 
trench  with  eighteen  others,  on  the  field  near  the  spot 
where  he  fell.  After  the  close  of  the  war  Colonel  Davis 
visited  Gettysburg  and  had  one  of  the  nineteen  nameless 
stones  marked  with  his  brother's  name  and  regimental 
numbers. 

John  Davis  was  a  strong,  resourceful  soldier.  He  had 
passed  unscathed  through  the  active  Virginia  campaigns  of 
1861-63,  having  taken  part  in  nearly  all  of  the  fighting  of 
the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  from  Bull  Run  to  Gettysburg. 
There  was  a  strong  affection  between  the  two  brothers 
that  the  three  years  of  common  service  for  their  country 
had  deepened.  In  one  of  the  last  letters  that  Lieutenant 
Davis  received  from  his  brother,  John  Davis  wrote:  — 
"  For  my  own  part,  I  feel  like  going  cheerfully  forward, 
trusting  in  an  all-wise  Providence  for  guidance  and  protec- 
tion, and  believing  that  the  cause  of  freedom  demands 
whatever  sacrifice  may  be  in  our  power  to  undergo." 

On  July  27th,  Jerome  Davis  wrote  his  father: — "I 
have  not  heard  from  John  (since  the  Battle  of  Gettysburg), 
and  I  fear  he  has  not  escaped  this  time.  Don't  work  too 
hard.  Yours  truly,  Jerome."  The  following  day  came  the 
expected  news.  The  first  words  which  met  his  eye  in  the 
home  letter  told  the  story:  "  Killed  in  action  about  sunset, 
July  2nd,  at  Gettysburg,  in  a  charge  made  by  our  regi- 
ment." He  wrote  his  sister:  —  "I  have  for  a  long  time 
felt  that  if  I  had  to  lose  a  friend  or  die  myself  while  this 
war  lasted,  I  wanted  the  Grim  Reaper  to  come  upon  the 
battlefield;  'In  a  charge  which  our  regiment  made.'  It  is 
glorious  to  die  thus;  to  be  a  martyr  for  his  own  country." 
There  is  no  word  of  regret,  no  trace  of  bitterness,  but  a 
conviction  that  the  Great  Cause  was  worthy  the  gift  of  his 


ON  GENERAL  SWEENY'S  STAFF  61 

brother's  life,  together  with  a  shade  of  exultation  that  John 
had  died  the  glorious  death  of  a  hero. 

The  circumstances  of  his  brother's  death  made  a  lasting 
impression  on  Jerome  Davis.  From  this  point  on  we  find 
in  his  military  experience  a  deeper  note  of  patriotism,  a 
quicker  recognition  that  his  life  was  not  his  own,  that  he, 
with  all  his  men,  was  standing  in  the  very  presence  of  the 
God  of  Battles,  and  might  momentarily  be  summoned 
before  Him.  His  daily  life  became  exalted  above  the 
drudgery  of  the  camp  routine,  and  his  life  slogan,  "  For 
God  and  for  men,"  was  now  interpreted,  "  for  God  and 
Fatherland."  If  the  day's  work  did  not  bring  chances  for 
winning  distinction  on  the  field  of  glory,  it,  at  least,  gave 
every  opportunity  to  serve  his  general  faithfully  and  to 
make  his  reports  and  inspections  with  care  and  regularity. 
The  hundreds  of  soldiers  of  nearly  every  rank  with  whom  he 
came  into  personal  contact  presented  the  greatest  possible 
chance  for  making  his  life  count  for  men. 

Almost  every  surviving  member  of  Company  I  has,  after 
fifty  years'  interval,  spoken  of  the  way  in  which  Lieutenant 
Davis  fathered  the  men  of  his  command.  Their  welfare 
was  always  uppermost  in  his  mind.  "  Sept.  16th,  1863. 
Springfield.  Dear  Augusta:  —  I  did  not  tell  my  reasons  for 
not  coming  back  but  I  will.  If  I  had  left  the  boys  here 
alone,  they  would  not  have  got  along  near  as  well.  They 
were  strangers  to  camp  life,  and  would  have  drawn  no 
clothes,  and  had  nothing  but  a  blanket  to  sleep  on.  I  am 
not  living  for  myself.  If  I  were,  I  never  should  have 
joined  the  army." 

In  spite  of  the  strict  military  discipline  in  the  brigade, 
which  forbade  commissioned  officers  associating  with  non- 
commissioned officers  or  privates,  he  could  not  forget  that 
he  had  risen  from  the  ranks;  that  he  was  one  of  the  boys. 
He  had  marched  and  fought  with  them  in  the  line;  he 
had  shared  their  wretched  fare,  the  camp  sickness,  and 


62  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

privation  and  toil,  and  now,  neither  a  commission  nor 
association  with  superior  officers  or  the  comparative  luxury 
of  life  at  brigade  headquarters,  could  cool  his  sympathies 
with  the  men  who  carried  the  rifles.  "  Corinth,  Jan.  5, 
Dear  Father:  —  We  have  been  on  half  rations  since  Dec. 
20th  and  do  not  know  when  supplies  will  reach  us.  I  am 
well  and  flourishing,  if  my  weight,  which  is  190  Ibs.,  is  any 
criterion.  The  boys  have  not  suffered  very  much  yet  for 
food,  as  I  got  100  Ibs.  of  meal  for  them  and  they  had  a 
little  extra  rations  and  we  have  driven  in  all  the  sheep  and 
cattle  we  could  find,  so  that  we  have  had  full  rations  of 
fresh  meat,  or  '  fresh  bones/  more  properly,  as  the  animals 
all  look  like  the  last  run  of  shad." 

From  the  diary  of  a  private  in  Company  I:  —  "  One  day 
after  Lieutenant  Davis  was  mounted  as  an  officer  on  Gen- 
eral Sweeny's  Staff,  we  had  marching  orders  and  I  had  to 
march  with  my  old  wound  still  unhealed.  ...  I  had  fallen 
behind,  and  was  limping  along  when  Lieutenant  Davis 
overtook  me.  General  Sweeny  with  the  rest  of  his  staff 
had  passed  on  to  the  front.  Knowing  of  my  wound  and 
the  difficulty  with  which  I  was  marching,  Jerome  Davis 
swung  from  his  saddle  and  handed  me  the  reins,  saying, 
4  Here,  Milo,  it  hurts,  doesn't  it?  Jump  into  this  saddle 
and  rest  a  little.  I  want  to  run  ahead  and  chat  with  the 
Company  I  boys,  and  when  the  bugle  calls,  "  halt,"  just 
ride  till  you  come  to  Company  I,  and  I  will  be  there  to 
take  the  horse/  " 

"At  Pulaski,  Tenn.,  a  noted  confederate  spy,  who  was 
brought  in  and  placed  under  an  insufficient  guard,  had 
escaped.  General  Sweeny  ordered  the  arrest  and  court- 
marshal  of  the  two  sentinels  who  had  guarded  the  door. 
The  case  excited  a  great  deal  of  attention  in  the  brigade, 
as  it  was  said  that  the  authorities  were  to  make  an  example 
of  the  men  and  inflict  full  punishment.  Though  they  were 
two  of  the  best  men  in  my  company  they  were  arrested  and 


ON  GENERAL  SWEENY'S  STAFF  63 

put  in  the  chain  gang.  I  went  to  the  Judge  Advocate  of 
the  division  and  asked  that  the  men  be  brought  to  trial  as 
soon  as  possible  and  I  appeared  as  their  counsel.  We  did 
not  call  any  witnesses  in  the  defense,  cross-questioning  of 
the  witnesses  of  the  prosecution  was  sufficient,  and  the 
men  were  acquitted." 

It  was  not  only  in  cases  where  life  and  death  were  the 
issue  that  Lieutenant  Davis  fought  for  his  men.  He  had 
a  soft  spot  in  his  heart  for  their  pranks  and  horse-play. 
He  knew  his  company  to  a  man,  and  could  not  bear  to  see 
them  abused.  One  dark  night  in  Mississippi,  when  the 
signal,  "  taps,"  had  sounded,  a  tallow  dip  kept  burning 
in  one  of  the  tents  of  Company  I.  Presently,  a  gruff 
voice  was  heard  at  the  door,  "  Lights  out,  light  out  here." 
The  men  in  the  tent  thought  they  recognized  the  voice  of  a 
comrade  having  some  sport  at  their  expense.  Quick  as  a 
flash,  Joe  Watts  sang  out,  in  a  loud  and  cheerful  voice, 

"  Oh,  go  to  ,  you  can't  fool  us!"  Before  the  words 

were  out  of  his  mouth,  in  stepped  the  Officer  of  the  Guard 
with  a  detail  of  men,  with  fixed  bayonets,  demanding  to 
know  who  had  "  insulted  the  dignity  of  a  superior  officer." 
Poor  Joe,  who  owned  up  at  once,  was  hustled  into  his 
clothes,  and  marched  off  to  the  guardhouse.  His  friends 
went  in  a  body  to  Lieutenant  Davis'  tent,  and  told  him 
what  had  happened.  In  five  minutes  he  was  at  the  guard- 
house demanding  the  release  of  "  one  of  my  boys  arrested 
by  mistake,"  and  Joe  was  put  back  to  bed  in  his  own  tent 
by  his  jubilant  mates. 

On  Sunday,  Oct.  llth,  General  Sherman  and  his  staff 
were  nearly  cut  off  at  Collierville  by  a  detachment  of  Con- 
federates in  a  sharp  fight  in  which  over  fifty  of  Sweeny's 
brigade  were  killed  and  wounded.  Lieutenant  Davis  was 
at  German  town  at  the  time,  and  took  the  first  outgoing 
train  to  meet  his  brigade.  Passing  through  Collierville, 
the  dead  of  both  sides  were  still  lying  unburied  by  the 


64  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

track,  where  they  had  fallen  the  previous  day.  Reaching 
La  Grange,  he  was  given  a  despatch  by  General  Carr, 
commander  of  the  division,  to  carry  to  General  Sweeny. 
It  was  a  dangerous  errand;  twenty-five  miles  through  the 
enemy's  country.  With  two  mounted  orderlies,  as  an 
escort,  he  started  at  noon  on  the  twelfth.  All  three  were 
well  mounted  and  had  orders  to  ride  hard.  About  mid- 
way, as  they  topped  a  long  incline,  they  came  face  to  face 
with  a  squad  of  Confederate  cavalry  climbing  the  slope 
toward  them.  The  Northern  men  had  already  been  seen; 
a  moment's  hesitation  and  they  were  lost.  Lieutenant 
Davis  drew  his  sword,  rose  in  his  stirrups,  and  with  a  wild 
hurrah,  as  if  summoning  their  command  from  behind  the 
hill,  the  three  men  put  spurs  directly  at  the  Southern  horse- 
men. The  charge  made  up  in  impetuosity  what  it  lacked 
in  volume,  and  supposing  the  little  band  of  riders  to  be  an 
outpost  of  a  following  force,  the  gray  horsemen  wheeled, 
put  spurs  to  their  horses  and  disappeared  down  a  side  road, 
to  the  relief  of  the  despatch  riders,  who  saw  no  more  of  the 
enemy  before  handing  General  Sweeny  the  papers  at  sun- 
down. 

Jerome  Davis  was  dissatisfied  at  being  separated  from 
his  company.  Repeatedly,  he  tried  to  return  to  the  line 
and  share  the  life  of  the  men  with  whom  he  had  enlisted. 
General  Sweeny  frankly  said  that  he  could  not  spare  him 
from  his  staff.  Finally,  as  a  result  of  an  earnest  appeal 
to  be  relieved,  which  enumerated  eight  distinct  reasons  for 
his  retirement,  he  was  returned  to  his  company,  of  which 
he  now  took  command. 

The  Second  Brigade  spent  the  winter  of  '63-'64  in  Pu- 
laski,  Tenn.  The  Fifty-second  Illinois  was  quartered  in 
the  Giles  County  College  buildings,  where  Lieutenant 
Davis  mended  a  cooking-range  and  built  an  oven  for  his 
company.  The  winter  passed  quietly.  There  were  few 
expeditions  and  the  command  settled  into  the  routine  of 


ON  GENERAL  SWEENY'S  STAFF  65 

guard  duty  and  camp  life.  Lieutenant  Davis  was  with  his 
company  and  had  ample  opportunity  for  contributing  to 
the  life  of  his  men.  He  wrote  to  his  sister  of  the  Young 
Men's  Christian  Association  organized  in  the  regiment: 
"  Our  association  prospers.  We  have  just  fitted  up  a  nice 
room  in  a  residence  near  by.  The  absence  of  the  chaplain 
leaves  me  president  of  the  Association.  Wanser  is  secre- 
tary. Fourteen  of  our  company  are  already  members.  .  .  . 
I  feel  a  great  responsibility  as  a  follower  of  Christ  to  per- 
form my  duty  for  Him  here  in  the  army  faithfully.  A  great 
field  is  open  for  work,  and  I  pray  that  myself  and  all 
others  here,  who  have  named  His  name,  may  be  faithful. 
I  wish  we  had  a  good  chaplain.  We  have  some  very  inter- 
esting meetings.  Have  just  started  a  Bible  Class;  lesson 
next  Sunday,  last  half  of  chapter  one,  Genesis."  Pulaski, 
April  12.  "  They  have  put  me  in  charge  of  a  school  for 
non-commissioned  officers  again,  so  I  shall  have  no  more 
guard  or  forage  duty,  but  as  I  have  to  go  on  all  the  drills 
and  dress  parades,  it  keeps  me  pretty  busy.  From  8  to  10 
o'clock,  squad  drill  and  company  drill;  10  to  12,  battalion 
drill;  1  to  3  P.M.,  non-commissioned  officers'  school;  3  to  4, 
dress  parade.  Then  with  seventy  men  to  look  after  and 
with  having  to  satisfy  all  their  questions  and  wants,  it 
pretty  much  fills  up  the  pieces  between." 

At  Pulaski  came  the  veteran  reinlistment  of  the  regi- 
ments. The  order  had  come  from  the  War  Department 
that  any  regiment  or  company,  three-fourths  of  which 
would  reinlist  for  three  years  more,  on  the  expiration  of 
the  first  three  years,  should  have  thirty  days  furlough  at 
home.  Company  I  would  not  reinlist  until  Lieutenant 
Davis  would  promise  that  he  would  remain  with  them. 
His  conviction  was,  that  after  nine  months,  when  his  three 
years  of  enlistment  would  terminate,  the  war  might  have 
reached  a  stage  where  he  could  honorably  resign  and  con- 
tinue his  college  course.  "  Many  of  the  men  are  anxious 


66  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

that  I  should  recruit  a  company  for  the  veteran  service, 
and  I  presume  if  I  did,  that  most  of  them  would  reinlist. 
I  shall  not  reinlist  again,  however,  with  the  present  pros- 
pects of  the  speedy  close  of  the  war.  I  think  that  the 
fighting  will  be  over  in  another  year,  and  no  inducements 
could  be  offered  to  keep  me  in  the  service  after  that." 
After  two  days,  during  which  the  men  pled  with  him  to 
remain,  he  saw  that  he  was  keeping  his  company  from  re- 
inlisting,  and  reluctantly  consented  to  join  them.  The 
month  of  January,  1864,  was  spent  on  furlough  at  his  home 
in  Dundee. 

He  suffered  much  with  rheumatism  and  dysentery  during 
the  early  spring  and  he  was  barely  able  to  advance  with 
his  command,  when,  on  April  27th,  the  order  came  for  the 
brigade  to  join  General  Sherman's  army  at  Chattanooga. 
The  Fifty-second  was  now  attached  to  the  Sixteenth  Army 
Corps  which  formed  the  right  wing  of  Sherman's  army  and 
participated  in  the  tremendous  strategical  movements  of 
the  Chattanooga  and  Atlanta  campaigns.  Sherman's  tac- 
tics were  not  to  charge  the  enemy's  works  in  front,  but 
to  outflank  him  and  make  him  fall  back,  or  fight  outside 
his  works.  Again  and  again,  the  16th  Corps  was  hurled 
from  one  end  of  the  federal  line  to  the  other,  often  march- 
ing twenty-five  miles  in  the  night,  as  Sherman,  "cracking 
the  whip,"  would  double  his  column  on  itself  and  suddenly 
appear  so  far  to  right  or  left  of  Johnston  as  to  compel  him 
to  fall  back  or  be  attacked  in  the  rear. 

Though  suffering  with  rheumatism  so  that  it  was  painful 
for  him  to  step  over  a  log,  Lieutenant  Davis  now  entered 
upon  one  of  the  most  severe  and  long  continued  campaigns 
of  the  war.  The  diary  here  speaks  for  itself: — "May  5th. 
We  marched  fifteen  miles  to  Hudson's  Mill  and  encamped. 
My  company  were  on  picket.  .  .  .  Sherman  swung  our 
corps  around  to  the  right,  through  Snake  Creek  Gap  to 
outflank  the  enemy.  Then  for  three  days  it  rained  nearly 


ON  GENERAL  SWEENY'S  STAFF  67 

all  the  time,  and  we  were  moved  from  place  to  place, 
marching  all  day  and  working  at  night  on  earth  works  and 
abattis.  Three  more  days  were  spent  in  maneuvering  and 
skirmishing  with  the  enemy,  and  on  the  morning  of  the 
15th,  our  brigade  crossed  the  river  in  canvas-covered  pon- 
toon boats,  under  cover  of  a  furious  artillery  fire  over  our 
heads,  which  kept  the  enemy  back.  We  were  no  sooner 
across  and  formed  in  line  of  battle,  than  a  force  of  the 
enemy's  infantry  appeared  and  charged  us,  but  finding  that 
we  were  too  strong  for  them,  they  retired.  The  pontoon 
bridge  was  laid  and  that  night  the  whole  division  crossed. 
May  16th,  we  marched  to  Rome's  cross  roads,  and  in  that 
engagement  our  regiment  supported  Walker's  battery." 

The  following  two  weeks  were  days  of  tremendous  march- 
ing and  ceaseless  toil  for  the  Sixteenth  Army  Corps.  Strong 
men,  who  had  for  two  years  stood  every  hardship  without 
complaint,  now  fell  out  of  the  ranks,  broken  down.  The 
hospitals  were  full  to  overflowing.  Men  began  to  see  that 
battles  were  won  by  the  side  that  had  the  strongest  legs 
and  deepest  lungs.  We  read,  "  May  17th,  we  marched 
nearly  all  night,  and  continued  the  next  day,  reaching 
Kingston  the  third  day.  From  this  point,  all  surplus  bag- 
gage and  tents  were  sent  back  to  Chattanooga.  May  24th, 
25th,  26th  we  marched  on  in  the  rain  toward  Dallas,  which 
we  reached  the  evening  of  the  26th,  and  my  company  went 
on  guard  at  division  headquarters.  Skirmishing  began  at 
daylight  on  the  27th,  and  then  for  five  days  and  nights 
there  was  constant  skirmishing  and  fighting,  night  and  day, 
so  that  we  had  almost  no  sleep.  On  some  of  those  nights 
there  occurred  the  most  furious  cannonading,  when  sixty  to 
eighty  great  guns  were  rapidly  firing,  lighting  up  the  dark- 
ness, and  ten  thousand  rifles  were  discharged  as  a  chorus. 
When  not  fighting,  we  were  working  on  earthworks,  some- 
times the  whole  command,  and  sometimes  by  reliefs,  night 
and  day." 


68  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

"May  30th,  '64.  Dear  Sister:—  ...  On  the  27th 
skirmishing  continued  all  day.  At  half-past  six  the  regi- 
ment formed  in  line  of  battle,  the  Sixty-sixth  Indiana  in 
front  of  us.  Company  F  of  our  regiment  lost  one  man 
killed  and  two  wounded.  The  Sixty-sixth  lost  three  killed 
and  twenty  wounded.  At  dark  we  commenced  building 
breast-works,  each  company  building  its  own  front.  First 
the  brush  is  cleared  away,  then  logs  cut  and  piled  about 
three  feet  high,  then  a  ditch  four  feet  wide  and  eighteen 
inches  deep  is  dug  and  the  dirt  thrown  over  the  logs.  At 
midnight  it  was  done  and  we  lay  down.  May  28th: 
Brisk  skirmishing  all  day.  At  half-past  four  the  rebels 
made  a  desperate  charge  upon  the  front  line,  which  lasted 
twenty  minutes,  and  were  repulsed  with  fearful  loss.  The 
front  line  is  about  50  rods  in  front  of  us  and  the  rebel 
bullets  came  against  our  embankment  very  briskly.  Con- 
tinued charges  were  made  away  to  our  left  in  the  evening. 
Just  as  we  had  quietly  lain  down  for  the  night  an  order 
came  for  us  to  be  ready  to  move  to  the  left,  as  the  Rebels 
were  charging  there.  We  were  hardly  in  line  when  a  des- 
perate charge  was  made  on  our  front.  It  lasted  nearly  an 
hour  and  the  sight  was  terribly  grand.  It  was  dark,  ex- 
cept for  the  stars,  and  looking  at  the  line  in  front  of  us,  it 
was  one  continual  blaze  of  fire,  while  the  discharge  of  the 
guns  of  the  batteries  to  the  right  and  left  of  us  was  accom- 
panied by  sheets  of  flame.  They  made  seven  different 
charges  during  the  night,  but  were  repulsed,  keeping  us  up 
all  night.  .  .  .  We  have  hardtack  and  pork  and  bacon  with 
sugar  and  coffee.  I  have  lived  on  this  diet  for  a  month 
now,  and  have  not  been  inside  of  any  shelter  during  that 
time  and  was  never  hungrier  or  heartier  in  my  life.  Boys 
are  all  well  except  Conrad  and  Russell,  who  were  sent  to 
the  hospital." 

Kennesaw  Mt.  "June  20th,  Dear  Sister: — Very  rainy. 
Very  heavy  cannonading  all  day.  Two  men  were  severely 


ON  GENERAL  SWEENY'S  STAFF  69 

wounded  while  the  regiment  was  on  skirmish  line.  Rebel 
rifle  pits  were  fifteen  to  twenty  rods  distant,  and  some  of 
the  way  in  plain  view.  Rather  close  work,  but  we  came 
out  all  right.  At  dark  we  made  a  bargain  with  the  rebs 
not  to  fire  unless  one  or  the  other  commenced  advancing. 
And  then  we  talked  back  and  forth  an  hour  or  two  very 
familiarly.  An  Alabama  regiment  was  in  front  of  our 
right  and  they  were  very  bitter.  The  Tennessee  regiment 
on  our  left  front  was  much  less  so." 

On  June  28th,  while  the  Fifty-second  111.  was  on  the 
picket  line  under  the  base  of  Kennesaw  Mountain,  a  detail 
came  from  the  War  Department  at  Washington,  appointing 
Jerome  Davis  as  Assistant  Commissary  of  Musters  for  the 
division.  He  writes,  "  I  had  had  one  experience  of  staff 
duty  and  did  not  wish  another.  I  wished  to  remain  with 
my  company  and  they  wished  me  to  remain.  I  worked 
hard  the  next  two  days  trying  to  get  relieved  from  this 
detail."  He  had  given  his  word  to  his  company  that  if 
they  would  reinlist,  he  would  remain  with  them.  The  new 
detail  not  only  was  distasteful,  but  conflicted  with  this 
compact  with  his  men. 

On  June  29th,  1864,  he  wrote  a  petition  to  headquarters, 
begging  to  be  relieved  from  the  appointment,  to  which  he 
secured  the  endorsement  of  his  colonel,  the  general  of  the 
brigade  and  of  General  Sweeny  of  the  division.  He  took 
it  in  person  to  Corps  Headquarters.  Lieutenant  Davis 
was  a  sorry  looking  staff  officer.  He  had  been  marching 
and  sleeping  on  the  ground  for  two  months  and  his  rough 
army  blouse  and  heavy  shoes  were  stained  by  the  mud 
and  exposure  of  picket  duty  and  heavy  Georgia  roads.  The 
Adjutant  General  of  the  Sixteenth  Corps  read  the  petition 
and  looked  the  bedraggled  lieutenant  from  head  to  foot. 

"  You're  a  d d  fool,"  said  he,  "  to  want  to  get  relieved 

of  such  a  detail  as  this.  It's  a  position  which  any  lieuten- 
ant in  the  division  would  be  mighty  glad  to  get.  I  advise 


70  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

you,  young  man,  to  go  back  and  begin  your  duties  at 
once."  Remonstrance  was  useless,  and  with  a  heavy  heart 
the  new  assistant  commissary  of  musters  of  the  Second 
Division  again  began  his  work  at  General  Sweeny's  head- 
quarters. 

His  predecessor,  an  officer  of  the  regular  army,  had  been 
dissipated  and  extremely  negligent  of  his  work.  Large 
piles  of  faulty  muster  rolls  were  in  the  office,  which  had 
been  sent  back  from  Washington  to  be  done  over  again. 
This  unwelcome  bequest,  in  addition  to  the  regular  work  of 
the  division,  the  mustering  in  and  out  of  all  officers  who 
were  promoted,  and  of  all  men  whose  terms  of  service  had 
expired,  put  a  tremendous  pressure  of  work  on  him.  While 
the  division  was  marching  or  fighting  he  acted  as  aide  to 
his  general;  otherwise,  he  worked  from  seven  in  the  morn- 
ing until  ten  at  night  at  his  desk,  often  with  the  shells  of 
the  enemy  whizzing  over  his  tent.  One  entry  from  this 
period  records,  — "  Today  mustered  out  some  men  who  had 
escaped  from  Andersonville  prison ;  —  the  merest  shadows 
of  men,  nearly  as  black  as  negroes,  only  skin  and  bones; 
hardly  enough  left  of  some  of  them  to  muster  out." 

His  first  day  of  active  staff  duty  was  typical  of  those  not 
spent  at  the  desk.  "  July  3rd,  moved  to  headquarters. 
Had  a  broken-down  horse  assigned  me  and  equipments  of 
the  same  stripe.  The  rebels  were  throwing  large  shells, 
about  as  large  as  a  two  gallon  jar  and  the  same  shape 
over  our  headquarters  when  I  arrived.  They  made  a  sorry 
noise.  At  nine  P.M.  tents  were  down  and  everything 
ready  to  move.  Very  dark.  11  P.M.  moved  out  onto 
the  road.  Midnight,  had  not  moved  80  rods.  Artillery 
stuck  in  a  mudhole.  1  A.M.  Having  become  lost  from 
the  Staff  among  the  train  in  the  darkness,  I  found  I  was 
ahead,  and  sat  by  a  fire  waiting  for  the  General  to  come 
up.  3  A.M.  command  halted;  lay  down  on  my  rubber 
blanket.  4  A.M.  Awoke  to  hear  news  that  the  Rebels 


ON  GENERAL  SWEENY'S  STAFF  71 

had  evacuated  the  Mountain  (Kennesaw).  5.30,  Got  a 
cup  of  coffee  from  a  company  near  by.  6  A.  M.  our  flag 
moved  onto  the  higher  Kennesaw.  8.00,  Moved  out, 
passed  the  Fifteenth  Corps  swinging  to  the  left.  9.00,  was 
stationed  in  the  road  to  keep  it  clear.  Prayer  meeting  was 
going  on  to  the  right  in  the  woods.  12  M.  Baited  my 
horse  in  a  sugar  cane  field,  and  ate  some  crumbs  of  hard 
bread.  2  P.  M.  Rested  at  General  Schofield's  head- 
quarters. 2.45.  Waited  beside  the  road,  while  the  rest  of 
the  staff  had  a  toddy  at  General  Crittenden's  headquarters. 
Watched  our  brigade  pass  by,  hungry,  hot  and  weary. 
5.30,  halted,  had  supper  and  received  orders  to  move  to 
the  front.  7.00  P.  M.  division  formed  and  commenced 
earthworks.  9.00  P.  M.  Have  been  carrying  despatches 
all  the  time  and  now  drink  a  cup  of  coffee  and  lie  down." 

The  Second  Division  was  bearing  the  brunt  of  the  turn- 
ing movement  that  forced  Johnston  out  of  the  Kennesaw 
district  and  pushed  him  back  upon  Atlanta.  On  July  4th, 
the  Sixteenth  Corps  celebrated  by  capturing  a  long  line  of 
confederate  earthworks  near  Kennesaw.  "  5.30,  awoke 
and  heard  cannon  to  the  left.  Division  ordered  forward. 
Learned  that  Thomas  was  pressing  the  enemy  down  the 
railroad  line.  12  M.  had  dinner  and  moved  to  the  front. 
Rode  round  the  lines  and  visited  the  Dundee  boys.  5.00 
P.  M.,  went  around  the  lines  again  with  despatches.  The 
Fifty-second  was  moved  out  to  strengthen  the  skirmish  line 
and  drive  in  the  rebel  skirmishers,  and  I  was  sent  out  with 
Major  Campbell  to  report  to  the  general  when  the  line 
was  ready  to  charge.  The  line  went  in  with  a  yell,  through 
a  thick  chapparal,  200  yards  wide  and  across  an  open  field 
and  were  in  the  rebel  trenches  all  right.  The  rebels  evacu- 
ated to  our  right  and  we  scattered  our  men  to  fill  them. 
I  galloped  back  and  reported  to  General  Sweeny  and  asked 
for  reinforcements.  The  Fifty-second  and  Twelfth  Illinois 
advanced  and  seized  the  main  rebel  works.  7,30  P.  M.  I 


72  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

am  sitting  with  the  General  in  the  rear  of  our  lines.  The 
rebels  have  opened  a  battery  and  are  very  saucy.  One 
cannon  ball  has  just  rolled  down  to  our  right  close  by, 
scaring  a  negro  so  that  he  double  quicked  over  the  hill  to 
the  rear  out  of  sight.  Now  a  shell  explodes  directly  behind 
us,  and  soon  another  almost  over  us,  cutting  the  bushes 
all  around  in  pieces.  I  have  been  through  many  dangers 
today,  but  God  has  preserved  me." 

During  all  the  crowded  days  of  this  strenuous  life, 
Lieutenant  Davis  did  not  forget  the  group  of  friends  at 
home.  Beside  regular  letters  to  his  father  and  sister,  he 
occasionally  wrote  to  the  children  of  the  Dundee  Sunday 
School,  in  whom  he  had  a  special  interest.  He  systema- 
tized his  work  at  headquarters  and  became  master  of  a 
situation  that  had  swamped  two  men  before  him,  and  was 
able  to  find  time  to  think  of  those  whom  special  bonds  of 
comradeship  and  affection  bound  to  him.  He  never  forgot 
the  fact  that  two  of  his  boys  had  saved  his  life  by  carrying 
him  off  Shiloh  field.  One  of  these  comrades  says:  —  "  One 
July  evening  while  lying  on  the  hard  floor  of  a  rough  hos- 
pital in  Marietta,  Ga.,  sick  and  weak  from  my  wound, 
just  as  the  twilight  deepened,  Lieutenant  Davis  came  and 
knelt  by  my  side.  He  took  me  by  the  hand  and  with 
kindly  smile  and  cordial  greeting  tried  to  comfort  and  cheer 
me  in  my  loneliness.  He  remained  chatting  with  me  until 
quite  dark.  How  in  the  world  he  ever  found  me  there  I 
will  not  attempt  to  solve,  but  find  me  he  did,  and  the 
pleasure  of  that  meeting  lingers  as  a  fragrant  memory. 
Finally,  he  said,  'Well,  Milo,  I  must  be  going  now;  keep 
up  a  good  heart  and  don't  give  up.'  Then  grasping  my 
hand,  he  said,  '  Good-bye,'  and  was  gone.  After  he  had 
gone,  I  got  a  soldier  to  bring  me  a  light  to  see  what  he 
had  pressed  into  my  hand.  It  was  a  ten  dollar  greenback." 


CHAPTER  VII 
THE   BOY  COLONEL 

DURING  July  and  August,  Sherman's  army  closed  in 
upon  Atlanta,  steadily  tightening  its  cordon  of  en- 
trenchments around  the  doomed  city.  General  Hood, 
now  in  command  of  the  defending  forces,  precipitated  a  series 
of  furious  battles  in  his  effort  to  drive  off  the  invading  army, 
which  put  nearly  half  his  men  out  of  action.  He  hurled  his 
worn-out  forces  in  solid  masses  against  the  strong  Federal 
entrenchments  with  the  result  that  Altanta  soon  fell  into 
the  hands  of  Sherman. 

From  August  llth  to  19th,  the  boys  of  the  Fifty-second 
were  in  the  front  line  of  earthworks,  within  a  few  hundred 
yards  of  the  Confederate  entrenchments.  The  men  were 
obliged  to  sleep  and  eat  and  remain  constantly  in  the 
trenches,  under  a  continuous  fire.  No  one  could  go  to 
the  front  or  the  rear  without  endangering  his  life,  for  the 
rebel  sharp-shooters  made  a  practice  of  picking  off  every 
Union  soldier  whose  head  appeared  within  a  radius  of  a  mile. 
The  strain  was  fearful.  "  We  had  difficulty  in  pitching  our 
headquarters  tents  where  they  would  not  be  shelled,  and 
I  worked  at  my  desk  with  shells  occasionally  flying  over 
my  head  and  bursting  uncommonly  near.  I  made  a  prac- 
tice of  going  out  to  the  front  line  every  afternoon  to  visit 
my  company.  On  those  walks  if  I  kept  in  the  open,  the 
bullets  would  soon  '  zip,  zip  '  around  my  head :  I  had  to 
walk  under  cover  of  bushes  to  be  at  all  safe." 

However,  incidents  in  lighter  vein  served  to  relieve  the 
strain  that  pressed  men's  nerves  to  the  breaking  point. 
"  One  day  as  I  was  riding  during  a  furious  cannonade  in 
the  rear  of  our  division,  carrying  a  despatch  across  a  long 

73 


74  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

slope,  a  darky  suddenly  appeared,  coming  from  the  front 
on  the  keen  run.  He  passed  me  and  ran  on,  as  for  life. 
Soon  I  saw  that  a  nearly  spent  cannon  ball  was  rolling 
after  him,  bounding  along  down  the  decline.  The  negro 
would  glance  over  his  shoulder  at  the  oncoming  ball  and 
then  push  on.  I  watched  them  till  both  were  out  of  sight." 

Lieutenant  Davis  was  absent  from  the  Third  Division  on 
July  20th  in  the  battle  of  Atlanta,  in  which  the  Army 
of  the  Tennessee  lost  its  beloved  commander,  General 
McPherson.  His  pride  in  the  brilliant  part  played  by  his 
command  could  not  compensate  for  the  chagrin  of  being 
out  of  such  a  fight.  Kingston,  Ga.,  July  26th.  "  Dear 
Sister :  —  There  has  been  a  great  fight  in  which  General 
McPherson  was  killed.  The  two  divisions  of  our  corps  lost 
1,140  men  killed  and  wounded.  I  can't  understand  why  I 
was  taken  away  from  the  company.  I  don't  know  but  I 
was  making  an  idol  of  it.  I  wanted  so  much  to  be  with  it 
if  we  were  in  battle,  to  care  for  the  boys  and  look  after  a 
good  many  of  the  little  things  for  the  wounded  and  dying 
that,  I  fear,  no  one  else  will  think  of.  It  is  one  of  the 
darkest  Providences  I  ever  experienced,  but  I  suppose  it  is 
for  the  best  in  some  way." 

One  of  the  compensations  of  life  at  division  headquarters 
was  the  privilege  which  he  often  enjoyed  of  attending  the 
Sabbath  services  at  the  headquarters  of  General  Howard, 
Commander-in-chief  of  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee.  A 
military  band  was  usually  in  attendance,  and  the  quiet, 
reverent  attention  of  the  officers  and  men  and  the  spirit 
of  the  whole  service  was  a  genuine  inspiration. 

On  September  first  General  Hood  evacuated  Atlanta. 
The  Third  Division  was  ordered  to  intercept  the  retreating 
enemy,  but  they  had  escaped,  and  the  tired  troops  marched 
to  Eastport,  Ga.  Here  while  the  men  of  the  line  rested, 
the  Assistant  Commissary  of  Musters  was  extremely  busy, 
working  far  into  the  night.  It  was  here  that  he  was  ap- 


THE  BOY  COLONEL  75 

pointed  Assistant  Commissary  of  Musters  for  the  Sixteenth 
Army  Corps,  and  here,  with  the  pressure  of  the  papers  of 
fifty  regiments  passing  through  his  office,  added  to  the 
many  preceding  months  of  strain  upon  his  writing  arm, 
that  his  hand-writing  broke  down  into  the  almost  illegible 
scrawl  that  became  the  despair  of  his  friends. 

On  the  first  of  October,  his  division  was  assigned  to  the 
Fifteenth  Corps  and  was  sent  to  Rome,  Ga.,  to  protect 
the  line  of  railroad  in  Sherman's  rear.  He  wrote  to  his 
sister: — "  I  have  been  trying  to  get  back  to  my  company 
for  the  last  week  but  have  been  checkmated  at  every  move. 
They  tell  me  that  they  have  too  much  confidence  in  my 
abilities  to  relieve  me.  Very  flattering,  but  rather  an  un- 
satisfactory way  to  be  rewarded  for  doing  your  duty." 

After  the  disastrous  repulse  of  General  French  at  Alla- 
toona  Pass,  Hood  withdrew  to  the  West  and  for  a  month 
the  two  armies  lay  facing  each  other,  Sherman  watching 
Hood  and  wondering  what  he  would  do.  "  Sherman  re- 
marked at  our  headquarters  one  day,  that  if  General  John- 
ston were  in  command  of  the  army  he  should  know  what  to 

expect,  but  that  Hood  was  such  a  d n  fool  that  he 

didn't  know  what  he  would  do.  Sherman  wanted  him  to 
be  fool  enough  to  cross  the  Tennessee  River,  which  he  did, 
thus  allowing  Sherman  to  carry  out  his  '  March  to  the 
Sea,'  which  burst  the  shell  of  the  Confederacy  and  was  the 
beginning  of  the  end.  Sherman  despatched  one  corps  to 
Nashville,  put  General  Thomas  in  command  there  and  at 
once  made  preparations  for  the  celebrated  march." 

The  first  three  years  of  service  of  the  veterans  of  the 
Fifty-second  Illinois  were  now  completed,  and  the  men  were 
entitled  to  reorganize  under  officers  of  their  own  selection. 
In  the  elections  held  by  the  reinlisted  men,  Lieutenant  Davis 
was  elected  Captain  of  Company  I.  Among  an  old  file  of 
army  records,  the  writer  found  a  manuscript  yellow  with 
age.  No  mention  of  this  paper  is  made  in  Colonel  Davis' 


76  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

full  record  of  the  war,  no  mention,  so  far  as  I  have  been 
able  to  discover,  was  ever  made  to  his  friends. 

"  Camp  of  the  52nd  III.  Vol.  Inf. 
Lieut.  J.  D.  Davis, 

Co.  I,  52nd  Infantry,  Vol. 
Lieutenant :  — 

Our  term  of  service  having  nearly  expired,  and  the  time 
having  arrived  when  we  as  fellow  soldiers  who  have  fought 
our  country's  battles  side  by  side,  must  part,  we  the 
undersigned  commissioned  officers  of  the  Fifty-second  Illi- 
nois Volunteer  Infantry,  desire  to  express  our  admiration 
of  you  for  your  many  brave  deeds  and  gallant  acts  in  de- 
fense of  your  country's  honor. 

On  the  battle  field  you  have  proved  yourself  to  be  a 
brave  and  gallant  officer,  fully  competent  to  command 
under  any  and  all  circumstances. 

In  camp  and  on  the  march  you  have  been  kind,  courteous 
and  cheerful,  and  through  all  the  long  and  tedious  cam- 
paigns through  which  we  have  passed,  you  have  per- 
formed your  duties  promptly  and  manfully.  And  in  the 
parting  with  you  we  part  with  one  of  our  country's  bravest 
sons  and  noblest  defenders." 

Signed  by  nineteen  of  the  commissioned  officers  of  his 
regiment,  many  of  whom  were  aware  of  the  coming  pro- 
motion which  was  to  be  at  their  own  expense,  this  bears 
witness  to  the  admiration  which  his  fellow-officers  held  for 
one  of  their  number  who  was  destined  for  the  highest  posi- 
tion that  the  command  could  bestow. 

October  17th  the  new  company  officers  met  to  elect  the 
field  officers  of  the  regiment.  A  committee  had  previously 
called  upon  Captain  Davis  with  the  request  that  he  should 
promise  to  accept  the  position  of  commander  of  the  regi- 
ment. He  replied  that  he  was  not  worthy  of  the  office 


THE  BOY  COLONEL  77 

and  would  have  to  decline.  On  a  second  call  the  committee 
reported  that  a  majority  wished  his  appointment  and  that 
they  insisted  upon  his  acceptance.  He  finally  said  that  if  a 
unanimous  wish  was  expressed  he  would  consider  it.  In 
the  first  ballot  Captain  Davis  received  a  majority  of  votes 
and  after  a  few  more  ballots,  he  was  unanimously  elected 
Lieutenant-Colonel  of  the  regiment.  The  Fifty-Second 
was  so  depleted  in  numbers  that  it  could  not  meet  the 
requirements  in  qualifying  for  a  Colonel,  and  was  com- 
manded to  the  end  of  the  war  by  its  Lieutenant-Colonel, 
who  received  his  brevet,  as  Colonel  of  Volunteers,  just 
before  being  mustered  out  of  the  army. 

There  were  two  factors  that  determined  the  choice  of  the 
veterans  of  the  Fifty-second  Illinois  of  their  new  comman- 
der. The  first  was  the  personal  affection  which  existed  in 
the  ranks  for  him.  This  was  a  power  more  potent  than  dis- 
cipline to  impel  the  men  of  his  line.  But  in  addition  to 
this  personal  relationship,  the  conviction  of  his  military 
ability  was  deep-seated  in  the  regiment.  The  various 
promotions  which  had  proved  him  in  a  wide  range  of 
service  were  common  talk  among  the  men.  Though  they 
recalled  the  manner  in  which  the  colors  had  been  carried 
at  Shiloh,  every  veteran  knew  that  courage  was  not  the 
first  quality  of  a  superior  officer.  They  remembered  that 
after  his  first  year  of  military  experience  he  had  made  his 
company  the  most  efficient  unit  in  the  crack  regiment  of 
the  brigade.  They  had  seen  General  Sweeny  pass  several 
ranking  officers  to  put  upon  the  second  lieutenant  the  in- 
spection and  standardization  of  a  whole  division,  a  post 
usually  filled  by  a  West  Pointer.  Again,  when  the  exact- 
ing requirements  of  the  Division  Muster  Office  had  put 
two  incumbents  out  of  commission,  they  had  been  called 
upon  to  give  up  this  same  Lieutenant  to  bring  order  out 
of  confusion.  Finally,  the  commander  of  the  Sixteenth 
Army  Corps  had  requested  the  War  Department  to  ap- 


78  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

point  Lieutenant  Davis  as  Assistant  Commissary  of  Mus- 
ters for  the  fifty  regiments  of  his  corps.  Now  that  the 
time  had  come  when  a  commander  was  to  be  elected  from 
their  own  number,  the  veterans  of  the  Fifty-second  chose 
the  man  who  knew  more  about  the  art  of  war  than  any 
other  in  the  regiment.  A  comrade  expressed  the  general 
opinion  regarding  him,  "  After  he  took  command  there  was 
a  feeling  of  quiet  confidence  on  our  leader.  He  was  safe 
and  sane  and  we  knew  we  would  be  well  looked  after." 

In  letters  to  his  father  and  sister  he  breaks  through  the 
customary  reserve  and  shows  some  of  the  inner  emotion 
that  came  with  the  honor  that  had  been  conferred  upon 
him.  "  Rome,  Ga.,  Oct.  23rd.  Dear  Father  and  Sister:  — 
I  am  feeling  lonely  tonight  and  I  want  to  write.  It  being 
Sunday  I  have  but  little  to  do  and  time  to  think.  Then, 
too,  Colonel  Bowen,  Captain  Thompson  and  five  other 
officers  and  forty-four  men  start  for  home  in  the  morning, 
and  this  makes  me  think  of  home.  If  I  could  start  home 
tomorrow,  feeling  that  my  country  needed  my  services  no 
longer,  I  should  be  happier  than  I  ever  was  in  my  life. 
But  I  cannot  feel  so,  for  here  is  a  company  of  re-enlisted 
veterans  and  recruits,  the  largest  in  the  regiment,  who 
came  into  the  service  with  the  express  understanding  that 
I  should  stay  with  them.  The  other  day  I  was  unanimously 
elected  captain,  and  now  the  whole  regiment  has  spoken 
that  they  want  me  for  commander.  I  feel  that  I  can  do 
more  good  as  a  patriot  and  Christian  here,  even  though 
only  a  few  months  of  life  is  given  me,  than  I  could  in 
many  years  in  civil  life.  God  seems  to  be  leading  me  in 
this  path  and  He  will  do  all  things  well.  It  is  lonely  to 
think  of  you,  but  in  such  a  gigantic  struggle  as  the  pres- 
ent, the  welfare  of  unborn  millions  demands  that  we  all 
make  sacrifices.  It  is  not  alone  those  who  go  to  battle 
who  are  called  to  suffer;  there  are  hundreds  of  thousands 
of  wounded  in  our  land  who  never  heard  the  shrieking 


THE  BOY  COLONEL  79 

missiles  of  death.  This  thought  is  worth  more  than  all  the 
world  to  me,  —  that  we  are  only  on  a  pilgrimage  here, 
and  are  all  to  meet,  as  I  trust,  in  a  common  home.  With- 
out this  to  cheer  me,  life  would  be  an  aimless,  animal 
existence,  and  the  future  a  dread  leap  into  the  dark.  I 
hope  you  will  both  be  courageous  and  be  glad  of  the 
privilege  of  suffering  for  our  common  cause.  .  .  .  For  two 
weeks  I  have  worked  from  sunrise  until  ten  o'clock  at 
night  in  my  office,  except  when  walking  back  and  forth  to 
meals.  It  is  only  by  persistent  exertion  that  I  can  keep 
business  away  on  Sunday.  I  am  trying  every  day  to  be 
relieved,  but  when  I  take  command  of  the  regiment  it  will 
mean  heavy  toil  again,  since  only  two  old  officers  remain 
and  the  new  ones  must  all  be  broken  in.  But  you  know 
I  always  loved  to  work  and  am  happier  when  busy  than 
in  any  other  way.  If  any  of  the  discharged  boys  of  Company 
I  call  to  see  you,  I  can  assure  you  that  they  are  every  one,  in 
my  estimation,  worthy  of  more  consideration  than  a  king." 

He  now  made  application  to  be  relieved  of  his  commis- 
sary duties,  and,  on  Oct.  27th,  took  command  of  his  com- 
pany and  marched  with  it  through  Georgia  and  South  Caro- 
lina. His  commission  as  Lieutenant-Colonel  was  dated 
October  24th,  1864,  but  on  that  very  day  communication 
with  the  North  was  broken  to  be  closed  for  six  weeks,  and 
it  did  not  reach  him  until  December  24th,  when  he  took 
command  of  the  regiment  and  rode  at  its  head  into  Savan- 
nah. His  clerk,  W.  H.  Kemp,  in  writing  of  the  new 
Lieutenant-Colonel,  says  "  The  new  honor  seemed  embar- 
rassing to  the  Colonel,  and  when  for  the  first  time  he  gave 
the  command,  '  Attention,'  to  the  long  line  of  veterans 
before  him,  his  voice  trembled.  From  this  time  until  the 
regiment  was  finally  mustered  out,  the  following  July,  he 
was  personally  in  command  of  the  regiment,  and  I  believe 
he  left  it  with  the  good  will  of  every  officer  and  man 
under  his  command." 


80  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

At  this  time  Colonel  Davis  was  twenty-six  years  of  age. 
As  the  youngest  regimental  commander  in  the  Fifteenth 
Corps  and  because  of  his  unusual  series  of  promotions  he 
was  popularly  called  "  The  Boy  Colonel "  throughout  the 
division.  His  youth  was  further  emphasized  by  his  smooth 
shaven  face,  at  a  time  when  every  officer  from  general  to 
corporal  was  entitled  to  a  full  beard.  l<  The  most  remark- 
able thing  I  remember  about  him,"  said  a  comrade,  "  was  his 
bright  and  continual  smile  and  clear,  brilliant  eyes,  which 
seemed  surcharged  with  an  intensity  of  fire;  the  eyes  re- 
vealed his  power.  He  could  be  stern  enough  when  occa- 
sion demanded,  but  his  self-control,  expressed  in  that  even, 
genial,  kindly  manner  which  nothing  seemed  to  ruffle,  must 
have  been  very  great.  He  had  very  little  patience  with 
men  who  would  shirk  or  neglect  their  duties,  but  he  was 
always  glad  to  reward  a  good  soldier  or  help  those  who 
were  unfortunate.  I  was  closely  connected  with  him  on 
his  staff  at  headquarters,  and  his  large,  generous  heart  and 
sympathy  for  the  boys  often  attracted  my  attention. 
Never  did  one  of  them  come  to  him  for  aid  or  for  special 
privilege  that  he  did  not  grant  it  if  in  his  power  to  do  so." 

On  arrival  in  Savannah  the  Fifty-second  was  detailed  for 
guard  duty.  The  line  officers  were  insufficient  to  command 
the  companies,  some  of  which  were  receiving  their  orders 
from  sergeants;  the  quartermaster's  commission  did  not 
come  for  several  months  and  in  the  interim  the  new  colonel 
had  to  be  responsible  for  all  the  property  in  the  regiment. 
His  officers,  nearly  all  promoted  from  the  ranks,  were 
without  experience,  and  the  task  of  supervision  and  of 
breaking  in  his  raw  staff,  at  the  same  time  keeping  up  the 
efficiency  and  discipline  of  the  regiment,  taxed  all  of  his 
resources.  "  My  headquarters  office  was  in  a  building 
fronting  the  wharf.  I  shall  never  forget  the  first  Sabbath 
morning  after  we  entered  the  city,  how  heavenly  the 
strains  of  '  From  Greenland's  icy  mountains '  sounded,  as 


THE  BOY  COLONEL  81 

played  from  the  steps  of  the  adjoining  Seamen's  Home  by 
a  full  brass  band.  The  field  and  staff  officers  of  my  regi- 
ment had  our  rooms  in  the  house  of  a  blockade  runner, 
then  absent  from  home.  The  wife  and  daughters  would 
sing  '  Dixie,'  over  our  heads,  while  we  ate  our  meals  in 
the  basement.  I  well  remember  the  oysters  we  had  here, 
roasted  on  the  shell,  —  a  feast  after  the  march  to  the  sea." 

His  letters  abound  in  references  to  the  contraband  ne- 
groes that  poured  into  the  Union  lines;  the  little  woolly- 
heads  toddling  along  on  foot  all  day,  keeping  up  with 
the  "  Mammy,"  carrying  the  family  possessions  in  an  army 
blanket,  while  the  father  marched,  a  free  man,  in  one  of 
Uncle  Sam's  black  regiments,  of  which  there  were  two  in 
the  division.  While  Lieutenant-Colonel  he  became  inter- 
ested in  the  black  cooks  of  the  regiment.  Some  of  them 
asked  to  be  taught  to  read,  and  he  took  pains  to  send  to 
Chicago  for  primers  and  organized  a  reading  class  for  them. 
The  thought  of  missionary  service  was  in  his  mind,  and 
though  he  eventually  entered  another  home  missionary 
field,  his  interest  and  belief  in  the  black  citizens  of  America, 
whom  he  had  fought  to  free,  remained  strong  to  the  end  of 
his  life. 

In  the  absence  of  a  regularly  appointed  chaplain,  the 
colonel  himself  occasionally  took  his  place  and  led  divine 
service.  He  secured  Rev.  G.  W.  Wainright,  of  Dundee,  as 
chaplain  of  the  regiment  for  the  last  six  months  of  its 
service.  Standing  out  clear-cut  in  the  memory  of  his  sur- 
viving comrades  is  the  picture  of  the  old  company  prayer- 
meeting  which  he  organized  and  helped  to  make  an  up- 
lifting influence  in  the  lives  of  his  men.  "  A  comrade 
came  to  my  quarters  and  asked  me  to  go  with  him  to  a 
prayer-meeting  held  in  a  log  house,  a  little  way  from  camp. 
I  gladly  went.  Colonel  Davis  was  leader.  He  stood  in  one 
corner  of  the  room  with  a  tallow  candle  in  his  hand,  while 
he  read  to  us  out  of  his  Bible  or  led  the  singing,  There 


82  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

were  no  seats.  We  all  had  to  stand  up  and  when  we  knelt 
for  prayer  we  were  packed  like  sardines  in  a  box.  I  was  a 
boy  of  sixteen  and  a  Christian,  and  Colonel  Davis'  talk 
that  night  and  his  conduct  in  his  intercourse  with  his  men 
impressed  me  with  the  reality  of  his  religion.  As  Lieutenant 
I  have  seen  him  talking  to  his  company  boys  at  roll  call 
about  giving  their  hearts  to  Jesus  Christ  and  being  pre- 
pared to  die  if  need  be." 

The  intimate  relation  that  he  had  borne  to  his  company 
as  its  commander,  was  now,  in  a  measure,  duplicated  with 
his  regiment.  He  toiled  with  them  in  the  building  of  en- 
trenchments, he  assisted  worn-out  men  with  his  own 
mount;  he  made  it  a  point  to  call  each  day  on  every  sick 
man  in  his  command;  in  every  possible  way  he  looked  out 
for  the  comfort  of  the  boys,  allowing  them  special  facilities 
for  forage  and  remitting  needless  red  tape.  Knowing  the 
dislike  of  his  men  for  the  new  regulation  forage  cap,  he 
managed  to  have  them  assigned  the  felt  slouch  hat,  so 
dear  to  the  soldier  in  rain  or  sun  or  cold  wind.  He  safe- 
guarded the  mails  for  his  regiment,  and  what  was  unusual 
in  the  army,  he  cared  for  the  wages  of  many  of  the  boys. 
There  were  times  when  his  saddle-bags  contained  hundreds 
of  dollars  belonging  to  his  men,  with  whom  he  kept  an 
informal  bank  account.  Others  entrusted  him  with  their 
wills,  which  he  filed  away  with  the  papers  of  the  regiment. 
He  was  often  the  first  to  hear  of  wounded  men,  and  to 
attend  them,  and  not  infrequently  he  performed  the  last 
burial  service  for  them.  Though  commander  of  the  regi- 
ment, he  was  still  "  one  of  the  boys  "  on  every  occasion 
where  discipline  did  not  demand  the  dignity  due  his  rank. 
It  is  no  wonder  that  his  men  loved  him,  that  they  would 
do  anything  for  him,  and  that  they  still,  after  the  flight  of 
fifty  years,  speak  of  their  old  Colonel  with  tender  regard 
and  admiration. 

The  campaign  through  South  Carolina  was  much  harder 


THE  BOY  COLONEL  83 

than  the  March  to  the  Sea.  "  The  swamps  were  worse 
and  we  had  to  march  beside  the  division  trains  and  help 
them  through.  It  is  safe  to  say  that  half  the  distance  that 
the  army  travelled  on  all  the  different  roads  had  to  be  cor- 
duroyed. This  was  done  with  rails,  when  they  were  near, 
and  later  with  pine  logs.  Each  division  had  to  put  in  a  new 
corduroy  as  it  came  up,  since  the  300  wagons  of  one  divi- 
sion would  sink  the  rails  out  of  sight.  There  is  no  bottom 
to  this  country.  Sherman  never  reports  that  the  roads  are 
impassable  on  account  of  the  rain,  but  marches  right  on, 
piling  log  after  log  in  the  mire,  until  it  will  hold  up  his 
train.  We  were  generally  ordered  to  be  ready  to  march 
at  daylight,  and  were  aroused  two  hours  earlier,  with  a 
hasty  breakfast  of  coffee  and  hardtack,  then  pack  and 
start  on,  marching  slowly  beside  the  trains,  building  roads, 
wading  in  water  freezing  cold,  up  to  our  knees,  sometimes  to 
the  hips,  stopping  for  no  dinner,  but  a  hardtack  or  two 
from  our  haversacks,  and  getting  into  camp  anywhere  from 
sundown  to  ten  o'clock,  and  occasionally  not  till  two  or 
three  in  the  morning.  After  getting  settled  in  camp,  it 
was  my  practice  to  make  the  rounds  of  the  regiment  and 
see  if  anyone  was  sick  and  if  the  companies  had  anything 
to  eat;  if  not,  get  them  some  rations,  when  possible,  and 
then  at  eight,  ten  or  twelve  o'clock  eat  the  only  substan- 
tial meal  of  the  day,  and  lie  down  for  a  few  hours  of  sleep 
on  the  cold  ground,  sometimes  on  pine  boughs  and  some- 
times on  rails.  Many  a  night  have  I  lain  on  four  rails, 
the  ends  laid  up  two  feet  high,  two  slim  rails  in  the  center, 
and  two  stouter  ones  on  the  sides,  with  my  haversack  for 
a  pillow,  a  rubber  blanket  thrown  over  me  and  the  rain 
pouring  down  all  night. 

"  The  negroes  of  Columbia,  S.  C.,  were  lined  up  on  each 
side  of  the  road  leading  into  the  city,  all  shades,  ages  and 
conditions,  but  all  wild  with  joy.  They  danced,  shouted 
and  embraced,  some  rolling  over  and  over  in  their  wild  joy. 


84  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

They  gathered  around  me  as  I  rode  at  the  head  of  my 
regiment,  one  or  two  holding  onto  each  hand  and  each  leg, 
shaking  and  pulling  as  I  went.  They  cried,  '  Bress  de 
Lor'!  Bress  de  Lor'!  Fader  Lincum  cum,  Bress  de  Lor'! 
Cotch  de  debil  in  his  den,  dribe  him  out ! '  etc.'  One  old 
woman  threw  up  her  arms  and  cried,  'Oh,  you  is  all  my 
folks;  you  whip  de  debil  in  his  den  and  follow  him  up! ' 

North  Carolina  brought  fewer  swamps,  but  proximity  to 
the  retreating,  enemy  with  forced  marches  and  constant 
entrenching.  "  The  night  of  the  15th  of  March,  we  were 
ordered  to  wade  across  the  Black  River  to  support  a  regi- 
ment which  had  been  thrown  across  and  had  been  attacked 
by  the  enemy.  I  dismounted  and  waded  in  at  the  head  of 
my  regiment.  When  we  had  gone  a  hundred  yards  into 
the  water  up  to  our  waists,  we  were  ordered  to  halt,  and 
there  we  stood,  two  companies,  in  the  cold,  running  stream, 
for  half  an  hour,  until  some  of  the  men  had  to  be  carried 
out  with  cramps,  and  then  we  were  ordered  back  to  camp. 

"  March  19th,  my  regiment  was  ordered  to  take  an  ad- 
vanced position  between  our  army  and  the  enemy,  who 
were  in  force.  We  waded  a  creek  and  guarded  a  bridge 
till  morning.  We  spent  the  night  in  building  breastworks 
and  early  the  next  morning,  without  breakfast,  marched  on 
rapidly  to  overtake  the  division.  The  first  five  miles  it 
was  very  hard  to  keep  the  tired  men  closed  up,  but  soon 
they  heard  the  booming  of  cannon  in  the  front,  and  in  a 
moment  were  all  closed  up;  there  was  no  more  lagging; 
we  marched  the  ten  miles  in  two  hours  and  a  half  and 
when  we  had  taken  position  in  line,  the  men  broke  ranks 
with  a  cheer,  ran  to  the  fences  and  did  not  rest  till  a  line 
of  breastworks  was  built,  but  the  Battle  of  Bentonville  was 
over  and  with  it  the  War. 

"  At  Raleigh,  N.  C.,  the  regiments  were  marched  in 
review  around  the  capitol  square.  The  Fifty-second  pre- 
sented a  forlorn  appearance,  in  the  last  stages  of  tattered 


THE  BOY  COLONEL  85 

uniforms.  I  had  ordered  a  new  suit  of  field  officer's 
clothes  from  the  North,  months  before,  but  they  never 
reached  me.  .  .  .  One  of  my  men  whittled  two  leaves  from 
two  silver  quarters,  which  I  sewed  on  my  blouse  and  wore 
that.  An  officer  in  command  of  his  company  on  this  re- 
view wore  a  crownless  hat,  with  his  hair  waving  through 
the  top.  I  had  been  given  a  pair  of  white  kid  gloves,  said 
to  have  been  the  wedding  gloves  of  a  South  Carolina  con- 
gressman. I  put  them  on  for  this  review,  but  the  thread 
gave  way  so  that  my  fingers  were  all  out  before  the  after- 
noon was  over.  This  was  the  extent  of  my  participation 
in  any  plunder." 

Then  came  in  swift  succession  during  those  fateful  spring 
days,  the  news  of  the  surrender  of  Lee,  the  assassination  of 
Lincoln  and  the  capitulation  of  Johnson's  army  and,  at 
last,  the  final  march  toward  Washington.  At  the  Grand 
Review  in  Washington,  Colonel  Davis  rode  at  the  head  of 
his  regiment  up  Pennsylvania  Ave.  The  officers  and  men 
were  the  recipients  of  prolonged  ovations  and  showers  of 
garlands  from  admiring  friends  who  had  come  from  all 
parts  of  the  North  to  welcome  them  home.  He  wrote  to 
his  sister,  on  May  27th,  from  Camp  Washington:  —  "The 
Review  was  a  grand  affair.  The  streets  were  crowded  with 
citizens.  Pennsylvania  Ave.  was  densely  packed  and  every 
door  and  window  and  housetop  crowded,  for  nearly  two 
miles.  The  regiment  acquitted  itself  nobly.  You  can  judge 
that  I  am  not  growing  handsome  very  fast  when  I  tell  you 
that  my  friends  say  that  I  was  the  only  one  of  nearly  fifty 
regimental  commanders  of  our  corps  whom  the  ladies  did 
not  present  with  a  bouquet.  I  had  told  my  men  to  look 
square  to  the  front,  and  as  I  was  riding  where  they  could 
all  see  me,  I  set  them  the  example,  and  I  presume  the  fair 
ones  had  little  opportunity  to  get  my  attention  as  I  passed." 

On  June  first  the  regiment  was  transferred  to  Smith  ton, 
Ky.,  where  the  order  came  to  proceed  to  Chicago  to  be 


86  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

mustered  out.  "  I  could  not  sleep  that  night.  I  lay  on 
my  cot  thinking  over  all  the  experiences  of  the  four  years, 
the  dangers  through  which  we  had  passed,  the  many  who 
had  fallen  by  the  way  and  could  not  be  welcomed  home, 
and,  especially,  that  now  I  was  free  to  carry  out  the  great 
purpose  of  my  life." 

At  Smith  ton,  Ky.,  Colonel  Davis  bade  farewell  to  his 
men.  As  the  regiment  of  veterans  was  drawn  up  in  line  of 
battle  for  the  last  time,  he  addressed  them  in  the  following 
words :  — 

"Officers  and  men  of  the  Fifty-second:  —  The  day  for 
which  we  have  hoped  and  wished  and  prayed  for  four  years 
has  arrived.  Our  country  saved,  our  work  as  soldiers  is 
done,  and  we  gladly  return  to  our  homes  and  our  friends. 
We  will  not  say  '  good-bye/  We  leave  an  avocation 
which  has  been  endurable  only  because  it  was  necessary. 
We  separate  as  soldiers  to  meet  and  mingle  and  labor 
together  as  citizens,  and  not  less  I  trust  for  our  country 
than  before.  Allow  me  to  say  to  you  one  and  all,  that  for 
the  prompt,  efficient  and  faithful  manner  in  which  you 
have  performed  every  duty,  however  arduous  or  odious,  that 
has  been  imposed  upon  you,  for  the  kind,  brotherly  feeling, 
affection,  even,  that  you  have  maintained  among  yourselves, 
and  especially  for  the  uniform  respect  and  attention  you 
have  always  shown  me,  and  for  the  universal  regard  for 
every  wish,  that  I  have  expressed,  since  I  have  had  the 
honor  to  command  the  regiment,  I  can  never  repay  you; 
I  can  but  thank  you.  I  trust  that  the  satisfaction  that 
always  attends  duty  well  done,  the  welcome  plaudits  of  our 
noble  country,  and  the  approving  smile  of  God,  who  has 
preserved  us  all  to  see  this  happy  day,  will  repay  you.  Let 
one  and  all  enter  our  new  spheres  of  action  as  citizens  with 
all  the  alacrity  and  youthful  vigor  that  we  possess.  Choose 
honorable  pursuits.  Set  your  mark  high,  and  may  you  come 
as  near  perfection  as  citizens  as  you  have  while  soldiers. 


THE  BOY  COLONEL  87 

My  heart's  best  wishes  and  prayers  will  follow  you.  I 
shall  always  be  glad  to  meet  you  and  to  hear  of  your 
welfare." 

A  few  days  before  leaving  Smithton  for  Chicago,  the 
officers  of  the  regiment  gathered  informally  in  their  colonel's 
tent  and  presented  him  with  a  beautiful  Howard  watch 
and  chain.  Upon  the  key  was  engraved  the  corps  badge, 
a  cartridge  box  with  the  motto  "  Forty  rounds."  It  was 
a  watch  which  was  to  be  his  constant  companion  for  forty- 
five  years. 

Before  the  regiment  was  mustered  out,  Colonel  Davis 
paid  nineteen  dollars  to  have  the  nineteen  battles  and 
skirmishes  in  which  the  Fifty-second  had  taken  part,  in- 
scribed in  gilt  letters  upon  the  regimental  banner.  There 
was  barely  enough  of  the  tattered  flag  left  to  put  them  on. 
On  July  tenth  the  men  of  the  regiment  were  paid  off  and 
discharged,  and  the  next  day  he  took  leave  of  his  officers, 
and  returned  to  Dundee  and  to  his  father's  home. 


CHAPTER  VIII 
STUDENT  LIFE  AGAIN 

COLONEL  Davis  was  twenty-seven  years  of  age  when 
he  left  the  army.  His  old  Beloit  classmates  had  grad- 
uated and  entered  their  chosen  pursuits.  Should  he 
go  directly  into  the  ministry,  or  finish  his  college  course?  His 
friends  told  him  that  the  four  years  of  army  experience  more 
than  made  up  for  the  two  years  in  college.  In  this  dilemma 
he  wrote  to  Prof.  Bartlett,  of  Chicago  Seminary,  who  advised 
him  by  all  means  to  go  back  to  college.  Such  advice  com- 
ing, not  from  a  college  professor  but  from  a  teacher  in 
the  seminary  in  which  he  was  planning  to  study,  fixed  his 
decision  for  college.  He  re-entered  Beloit  College  in  Sep- 
tember, 1865.  He  wrote  many  years  later,  "  I  have  never 
ceased  to  thank  God  for  this  decision.  That  last  year  in 
Beloit  was  a  great  help  to  me.  Not  to  speak  of  the  ad- 
vantage of  having  a  regular  college  diploma,  the  renewal  of 
association  with  the  strong  men  on  the  Beloit  faculty, 
and  the  friendships  with  my  class  of  1866,  was  a  lifelong 
blessing." 

It  was  not  easy  for  the  soldier,  after  four  years  spent  in 
the  open,  to  resume  the  quiet  college  life,  but  his  class- 
mates tell  how  he  adapted  himself  to  the  new  environment. 
"  He  was  older  than  the  rest  of  the  class  and  came  right 
from  the  army  to  us.  How  well  I  remember  when  the 
4  Colonel '  took  his  place  among  us.  We  were  a  little 
awed  at  first,  fearing  he  might  act  as  a  restraint  and  try  to 
check  our  flow  of  spirits.  But  we  soon  found  that  he 
entered  into  the  class  spirit  just  as  though  he  had  not 
been  the  commanding  officer  of  a  regiment.  .  .  .  He  was 
born  to  lead,  but  did  it  in  such  a  quiet  way  that  we  did  not 
know  he  was  leading." 

88 


STUDENT  LIFE  AGAIN  89 

The  return  of  Jerome  Davis  to  Beloit  made  a  deep  im- 
pression upon  the  students.  The  fact  that  a  man  who 
had  attained  such  military  success  should,  after  four  years, 
hold  educational  ideals  so  highly  as  to  finish  his  course, 
was  a  matter  of  considerable  comment.  He  brought  a 
mature  experience  and  a  power  of  reflection  and  concentra- 
tion which  showed  at  once  in  his  college  work.  He  had 
marked  out  his  life-work,  comprehended  what  it  meant, 
and  was  chiefly  interested  in  those  studies  which  would  pre- 
pare him  for  it.  He  was  especially  strong  in  debate  and 
excelled  as  a  parliamentarian.  "  As  President  of  the  Delian 
Society  he  once  led  a  great  parliamentary  fight.  I  was  the 
leader  of  the  opposing  faction  which  resorted  to  every  pos- 
sible tactics  to  harass  him.  Davis  kept  cool  and  not  once 
lost  his  head,  and  proved  himself  a  masterly  presiding 
officer." 

Dr.  Arthur  H.  Smith,  of  China,  a  member  of  the  class 
of  '67,  says:  —  "  Under  the  loose  practice  of  his  predeces- 
sors, the  parliamentary  meetings  had  degenerated  into  free 
and  easy  palavers,  without  formalities  of  any  kind.  But 
Davis  had  found  a  rule  that  an  intending  speaker  must 
address  the  chair,  and  must  be  recognized,  and  that  he 
must  talk  to  the  motion.  An  irrepressible  Delian  would 
jump  up  and  begin  an  excited  harangue,  to  be  interrupted 
by  the  stentorian  tones  of  the  Lieutenant-Colonel,  shouting, 
'  The  gentleman  is  out  of  order.'  With  a  puzzled  look, 
the  orator  would  begin  again,  with  '  Mr.  President,  I  wish 
to  say,'  — '  The  gentleman  is  out  of  order,'  thundered  the 
presiding  officer,  and  upon  being  appealed  to  as  to  why  out 
of  order,  the  speaker  would  be  informed  that  he  must  await 
recognition,  after  addressing  the  chair.  After  some  weeks 
of  this  a  student  who  was  trying  to  give,  in  class,  a  point 
in  International  Law,  recited  instead  a  rule  of  Cushing's 
Manual.  Probably  that  small  volume  had  never  before 
been  so  thoroughly  mastered  in  Beloit." 


90  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

During  his  last  year  at  Beloit  he  formed  a  friendship 
with  a  classmate,  D.  D.  Hill,  which  exerted  a  strong  in- 
fluence upon  him.  "  Our  class  had  been  called  '  a  little 
boy's  class,'  but  Davis  and  Hill,  who  had  also  been  a 
soldier,  brought  very  strong  manhood  into  it.  Their 
friendship  was  like  that  between  Achilles  and  Patroclus. 
There  was  a  complete  contrast  between  them.  Hill  was 
combative,  critical,  seeking  the  light,  charging  here  and 
there,  ready  to  challenge  anybody  and  anything  that  did 
not  agree  with  him.  They  were  in  the  habit  of  debating 
everything,  and  we  would  hear  Hill's  deep  voice,  bellowing 
with  excitement,  while  Davis'  calm,  thin  voice  would  re- 
spond. Hill  had  physical  strength,  immense  power  of 
emotion,  gifts  of  oratory,  a  great  cerebellum;  Colonel  Davis 
had  a  great  development  of  the  mental  and  the  moral. 
Hill  was  constantly  bucking  against  college  regulations; 
Davis  accepted  them  as  army  discipline.  He  was  a  clear, 
convincing,  but  not  a  moving,  persuasive  speaker,  rather 
slow  in  expressing  himself,  but  every  word  counted  and  had 
its  weight." 

Colonel  Davis  felt,  what  his  classmates  scarcely  realized, 
the  great  handicap  which  he  was  under  in  having  post- 
poned his  professional  preparation.  It  was  this  conscious- 
ness, with  the  power  of  using  every  available  moment, 
that  enabled  him  to  finish  the  work  of  the  last  two  years  of 
his  college  course  in  one,  and  to  maintain  a  high  standard. 
His  roommate  says  of  him,  "  He  saved  every  minute.  He 
suggested,  and  I  agreed  to  it,  that  we  would  not  talk  to 
each  other,  or  even  speak  to  each  other,  except  for  fifteen 
minutes  after  supper."  He  saved  from  his  officer's  salary 
funds  ample  to  enable  him  to  complete  his  education,  so 
that  every  energy  could  now  be  applied  to  his  studies. 
The  army  training  enabled  him  to  maintain  a  self-imposed 
discipline  that  was  unusual  among  college  boys.  It  en- 
abled him,  further,  to  accomplish  a  large  amount  of  auxil- 


STUDENT  LIFE  AGAIN  91 

iary  reading:  D'Aubigne's  "  Reformation,"  Hopkins'  "  His- 
tory of  the  Puritans  in  the  Reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth," 
Bungener's  "The  Preacher  and  the  King,"  "The  Priest 
and  the  Huguenot,"  "  Voltaire  and  His  Times."  The  lives  of 
Pym,  Eliot,  and  John  Hampden,  Palfrey's  "  History  of 
New  England,"  and  Irving's  "  Life  of  Washington  "  were 
among  the  books  which  he  read  during  his  last  year  at 
Beloit. 

Life  at  Beloit,  in  the  sixties,  had  its  lighter  side.  Base- 
ball and  football  were  played  regularly  on  the  campus, 
with  large  numbers  of  students  participating.  Those  were 
the  days  of  old-fashioned  football,  when  the  whole  school 
occasionally  took  part  and  kicked  the  ball  and  each  other's 
shins,  without  much  attention  to  rules.  Several  Beloit 
men  of  that  period  testify  to  the  hard  football  playing  of 
the  colonel.  "  When  he  had  time  to  play  he  did  it  with 
the  same  energy  that  he  applied  to  his  studies.  Tom 
Chamberlin  and  Jerome  Davis  were  the  two  best  football 
players  in  college;  when  either  pair  of  long  legs  got  started 
down  the  field  after  the  ball,  it  was  usually  hopeless  to 
catch  them.  He  was  a  good  captain  to  plan  movements 
and  always  showed  the  same  even  temper  and  disposition." 

He  was  a  congenial  spirit  at  class  gatherings:  always 
ready  for  a  joke;  approachable  and  genial,  but  without  the 
boyish  tricks  and  tomfoolery  of  the  average  student."  He 
felt  out  of  place  in  general  society,  and  was  often  at  a  loss 
with  ladies  and  found  it  difficult  to  enter  into  social  small 
talk.  He  was  essentially  a  man's  man.  He  knew  how  to 
handle  men,  and  had  a  quiet  air  of  self-confidence  with 
them  that  was  born  of  long  training.  He  was  too  busy 
while  in  college  to  use  these  qualities  of  leadership  in  any 
of  the  activities  that  are  dear  to  college  men,  except  as 
they  lay  in  the  line  of  his  preparation,  as  in  the  Literary 
Society.  "  One  evening  a  mock  court  was  held  in  the 
rooms  of  two  of  his  classmates.  Davis  was  appointed  judge, 


92  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

Rose  the  offender,  Bascom  prosecuting  attorney,  and  I, 
counsel  for  the  defendant.  The  fun  was  fast  and  furious, 
and  I  can  recall  Lewis  and  Fitch  rolling  on  the  floor 
too  convulsed  to  hold  themselves  up.  Davis'  serio-comic 
speeches  were  one  of  the  features  of  the  evening." 

He  had  come  back  from  the  Army  a  broader  man  than 
when  he  had  entered  Beloit  as  a  Freshman.  A  college 
friend,  now  practicing  law  in  Washington,  D.  C.,  tells  the 
following  story:  "  One  day  in  front  of  the  old  Middle 
College,  a  prospective  theologue  had  sharply  called  down 

Sam  ,  for  what  he  considered  useless  profanity.  Sam, 

who  had  some  very  positive  notions  of  his  own,  not  ac- 
quired around  Beloit  College,  joined  in  a  sharp  argument 
as  to  the  justification  of  profanity.  Just  then  Colonel 
Davis  came  walking  by,  with  his  dignified  military  tread, 
and  Sam  said,  '  Now,  there  comes  Colonel  Davis.  He  has 
some  sense  and  we  will  leave  it  to  him.'  The  prospective 
theologue  considered  his  case  as  good  as  won  and  gladly 
consented.  Davis  halted  and  Sam  stated  his  case,  and 
said: — 'Colonel,  we  have  agreed  to  leave  it  to  you  to 
decide  whether  profanity  is  ever  necessary.'  The  Colonel 
thought  a  moment,  and  then,  much  to  our  surprise,  said:  — 
'  Yes,  I  think  it  is.  I  have  seen  a  ten  mule  team  hitched 
to  an  army  wagon,  stuck  in  the  mud  in  Mississippi,  and 
nothing  could  move  it  till  a  man  who  could  yell  and  use 
the  whip  and  a  liberal  amount  of  profanity,  all  at  the 
same  time,  got  into  the  saddle  on  the  wheel  mule,  and  they 
pulled  that  wagon  out  of  the  mud-hole  as  if  they  had  been 
shot  out  of  a  gun.'  That  incident  increased  my  respect 
for  Jerome  Davis  and  I  have  always  thought  that  if  he  had 
become  a  judge,  instead  of  a  missionary,  he  could  have 
done  what  so  few  judges  are  able  to  do,  namely,  decide  a 
case  as  he  considered  right,  irrespective  of  his  prejudices." 

A  lower  classman  wrote  of  him,  "  In  my  mind  the  college 
fell  naturally  into  three  parts: — the  faculty,  the  students, 


STUDENT  LIFE  AGAIN  93 

and  Colonel  Davis:  not  because  he  separated  himself 
or  was  uncompanionable,  but  because,  at  the  time,  this 
seemed  the  natural  analysis.  .  .  .  His  face  in  conversation 
was  expressive.  Davis  was  always  '  all  there.'  If  he 
gave  you  an  opinion,  it  was  not  only  an  opinion,  it  was  a 
conviction.  .  .  .  His  voice  suited  the  man,  for  it  conveyed 
emphasis,  and  yet  was  sympathetic  and  invited  confidence. 
Though  he  was  only  one  year  ahead  of  me  in  college,  I 
would  rather  have  said  or  done  foolish  things  in  the  pres- 
ence of  one  of  the  professors,  than  before  him." 

His  religious  life  had  shared  in  the  ripening  process 
which  his  whole  character  had  passed  through.  Every 
one  knew  him  to  be  a  religious  man,  but  his  religion  was 
of  that  fundamental  kind  that  pervades  the  whole  person- 
ality as  its  natural  expression.  The  weekly  class  prayer- 
meeting,  held  in  rotation  in  the  students'  rooms,  was  a 
source  of  fellowship  and  help  to  most  of  the  men  of  '66. 
He  found  great  satisfaction  in  these  gatherings.  Rev. 
James  D.  Eaton,  D.D.  writes:  —  "At  daily  prayers  in 
the  old  chapel  he  sat  in  the  front  row,  and  so  when  the 
'  amen  '  had  been  spoken,  he  was  among  the  first  to  march 
down  the  center  aisle,  and  his  was  the  inspiring  face  upon 
which  my  freshman  eyes  gazed  almost  every  day.  He  wore 
as  did  Hill  and  many  others,  the  long,  blue  overcoat,  drawn 
upon  leaving  the  army,  and  he  usually  wore  it  unbut- 
toned, and  walked  erect  and  with  military  bearing  to  and 
from  his  classes,  —  every  inch  a  soldier.  In  all  of  the  re- 
ligious meetings  of  the  college,  he  was  a  helpful  leader,  and 
he  was  a  positive  force  in  maintaining  a  high  spiritual  tone 
and  an  earnest  purpose  of  life  in  the  student  body.  He 
made  all  of  us  his  debtors,  to  an  extent  which  we  did  not 
fully  appreciate  at  the  time,  but  which  we  realize  more 
keenly  with  the  passing  of  the  years," 

In  his  religious  life  he  was  self-controlled,  and  took  up  no 
duties  which  in  any  way  would  interfere  with  the  accom- 


94  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

plishment  of  the  finest  preparation  that  Beloit  could  give 
him  for  his  future  work. 

After  graduating  as  salutatorian  of  his  class  he  spent 
the  summer  vacation  in  Dundee.  It  was  the  first  rest  that 
he  had  enjoyed  since  his  army  furlough,  four  years  before. 
While  at  home  he  wrote  to  his  class:  —  "Briefly  known, 
but  much  loved  Classmates:  —  I  have  just  received  your 
letter  and  although  I  can't  add  much  wit  or  life  to  it,  I 
will  not  detain  it.  It  finds  my  vacation  two- thirds  gone. 
It  has  passed  rapidly.  I  work  half  a  day  and  read  and 
visit  the  other  half.  A  few  days  more  will  find  me  conning 
Hebrew  in  Chicago.  I  don't  think  I  appreciate  my  vaca- 
tion as  much  as  some  of  the  class.  I  had  so  long  a  one 
in  the  army  that  I  am  ready  to  enjoy  study  again  already. 
Perhaps,  if  I  had  not  studied  calculus  so  long  ago  I  could 
make  something  of  Brown's  letter.  I  surrender!  Butler's 
Analogy  is  easy  in  comparison.  Fred  says  he  has  been 
reading  the  latter;  I  have  just  read  the  introduction  by 
Barnes,  and  like  it.  My  experience  is  the  reverse  of  Bas- 
com's;  not  that  I  have  grown  bigger,  but  older.  I  am  not 
1  young  folks'  here  any  more.  The  '  juveniles '  are  the 
children  of  my  old  scholars.  I  know  less  than  half  of  the 
people  I  meet  at  sociables  and  am  ruled  out  at  the  young 
folk's  parties:  —  a  confirmed  'old  bach,'  you  see.  I  never 
expect  to  find  any  parties  quite  as  pleasant  as  ours  were. 
I  look  back  to  them  as  among  the  pleasantest  reminiscences 
of  my  last  year  at  college.  Then  I  think  our  class  prayer- 
meetings  will  never  be  realized  so  preciously  again.  With 
a  prayer  for  our  success  in  life  and  a  perfect  reunion  when 
our  day's  toil  is  over.  I  remain,  one  of  the  seventeen." 

In  September,  1866,  he  entered  Chicago  Theological 
Seminary.  He  took  up  his  theological  course  with  zest. 
His  college  friend,  Hill,  had  joined  him  and  they  worked 
through  the  three  year  course  together,  as  roommates,  with 
deepening  friendship.  During  his  first  year  in  the  seminary 


STUDENT  LIFE  AGAIN  95 

he  spent  his  Sabbaths  in  Sunday  School  work  under  the 
leadership  of  Major  Whipple.  In  the  autumn  of  1866,  an 
epidemic  of  cholera  broke  out  in  Chicago,  and  Davis  with 
several  other  seminary  students  volunteered  as  nurses  in 
the  cholera  district. 

The  life  at  Chicago  passed  rapidly.  The  fellowship  among 
the  students  was  strong  and  that  between  teachers  and 
pupils  unusually  helpful.  Professor  Haven  was  the  teacher 
who  most  deeply  influenced  him.  His  method  of  teaching 
theology  was  unique  and  stimulated  independent  thinking. 
After  stating  in  his  first  lecture  upon  one  of  the  great 
doctrines  of  belief,  all  the  objections  to  the  orthodox  posi- 
tion, he  would  close  by  saying,  "  Now,  young  gentlemen, 
tell  me  next  time  how  you  will  answer  those  objections." 
Some  of  the  students  felt  that  the  objections  were  un- 
answerable, but  Davis'  faith,  apparently,  never  wavered. 
His  roommate  said  of  him,  "  It  was  many  months  before  I 
could  accept  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity.  Colonel  Davis 
used  to  say,  '  You  will  see  it  and  come  around  in  time,'  but 
he  seemed  never  to  have  a  doubt." 

Hill  was  especially  interested  in  Pastoral  Theology  and 
pressed  the  subject  on  his  roommate's  attention  to  the 
broadening  of  his  preparation,  but  the  problems  of  System- 
atic Theology  continued  to  the  end  of  his  course  to 
offer  the  greatest  attraction  to  him.  He  was  accustomed 
to  beat  through  a  number  of  possible  ways  until  the  final 
solution  was  reached,  and,  then,  for  every  problem,  there 
awaited  the  daily  argument  with  his  enthusiastic  room- 
mate. Cause  and  effect  meant  much  to  him  and  he  was 
ready  to  accept  legitimate  conclusions,  even  if  they  com- 
pelled him  to  modify  beliefs.  This  ran  through  his  theol- 
ogy all  his  life  and  made  him  a  conservative. 

A  student  at  Chicago  Seminary,  who  later  became  one  of 
Dr.  Davis'  most  intimate  associates  in  the  work  in  Japan, 
was  D.  C.  Greene,  who  said  of  him: —  "  I  see  him  now  as 


96  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

he  stood  up  to  recite,  —  tall,  erect,  with  an  unmistakable 
military  bearing,  the  most  noticeable  man  in  our  student 
body.  Some  of  the  students  were  inclined  to  be  narrow 
in  their  interests  and  severe  in  their  judgments,  and  used 
to  frown  on  the  pranks  of  the  younger  men,  but  Colonel 
Davis,  though  with  the  most  ripened  experience  of  any  of 
us,  had  a  strong  vein  of  common  sense  and  good  judg- 
ment that  made  him  look  with  leniency  upon  some  things 
that  he  himself  did  not  care  to  do,  and  saved  him  from  a 
narrow  Puritanism.  A  group  of  classmates  had  gathered 
one  evening  in  a  student's  room,  in  the  usual  attempt  at 
finally  settling  every  problem  relating  to  the  human  race. 
The  Roman  Catholic  Church  came  under  cross-fire.  Some 
said  that  the  church  in  question  was  an  unmixed  evil,  and 
others  had  doubt  as  to  the  final  salvation  of  Roman  Cath- 
olics. Finally,  the  Colonel  could  stand  it  no  longer,  and 
heartily  championed  the  Papal  cause,  stating  it  as  his  con- 
viction that  God  could  use  that  church  to  his  glory,  and 
that  there  might  be  found  just  as  devoted  Roman  Catholic 
Christians  as  Protestant." 

Davis  always  enjoyed  a  joke  upon  his  roommate.  Hill 
had  received  a  barrel  of  fine  apples  from  home,  and  to 
guard  against  their  too  speedy  disappearance  he  waited 
until  a  late  hour  in  the  night  before  rolling  it  up  the  three 
flights  of  stairs  to  the  rooms  which  he  and  Davis  occupied. 
All  went  well  until  the  top  landing  was  almost  reached, 
when,  without  warning,  the  head  of  the  barrel  burst  and 
the  entire  contents  went  rattling  and  bounding  down  the 
dormitory  stairs  with  a  noise  that  brought  half  the  students 
to  their  doors  to  see  the  fun.  Word  of  the  windfall  spread 
so  rapidly  that,  by  the  time  Hill  reached  the  lower  hall, 
he  could  find  scarcely  enough  apples  to  fill  his  pockets. 

In  the  Seminary  Davis  was  not  ranked  as  an  easy 
speaker.  His  slight  hesitancy  of  manner  and  speech  led 
some  to  say:  —  "Hill  and  Douglass  will  make  their  mark; 


STUDENT  LIFE  AGAIN  97 

Davis  will  not:  he  does  not  know  how  to  use  his  great 
abilities."  The  criticisms  of  his  classmates  and,  especially, 
the  practical  experience  of  his  summer  vacations  were  of 
great  value  in  developing  him. 

In  the  spring  of  1867,  he  applied  to  the  Elgin  Associa- 
tion for  a  license  and  was  assigned  to  the  village  of  Algon- 
quin, five  miles  up  the  river  from  his  home.  Here  was  a 
small  Episcopal  Church  and  defunct  organizations  of  Bap- 
tists, Methodists  and  Congregationalists.  His  task  was  to 
reorganize  the  last  named  denomination  and,  if  possible, 
build  a  church  in  Algonquin.  The  only  available  place 
for  meetings  was  a  room  over  a  blacksmith's  shop,  for  which 
six  months'  rent  was  due.  He  advanced  the  money.  As 
the  room  was  only  partially  seated  he  bought  lumber  and 
made  seats.  There  were  no  hymn  books  and  he  bought 
these.  The  preaching  was  easier  than  the  pastoral  work, 
and  he  found  it  especially  hard  to  call  on  strangers,  but  he 
compelled  himself  to  do  this  and  began  a  systematic  visi- 
tation of  the  village.  The  congregations  filled  up,  the 
prayer-meetings  interested  many,  and  one  young  man  was 
converted  and  united  with  the  church.  He  now  deter- 
mined to  try  for  a  church  building.  Previous  efforts  had 
failed  at  two  points:  —  the  division  of  the  people  into  four 
denominations  and  the  fact  that  the  Fox  River  divided 
the  town  into  two  districts,  each  of  which  would  not  con- 
cede a  church  building  to  the  other. 

On  July  first  he  started  a  subscription  paper,  which  he 
circulated  himself.  Of  the  $2,100  raised,  all  but  $400  was 
given  by  non-church  members.  He  found  that  the  key  to 
his  list  was  a  certain  deacon  who  had  a  reputation  for 
closeness.  Several  of  the  citizens,  thinking  to  safeguard 
themselves,  promised  to  duplicate  his  gift,  and  were  stunned 
to  hear  that  the  deacon  had  given  $250.00.  He  next  drew 
plans  for  a  building  32  by  50  ft.,  with  a  spire  80  ft.  in 
height,  went  to  Chicago,  bought  the  lumber,  shipped  it 


98  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

to  Algonquin,  piled  it  on  the  lot,  and  let  the  contract 
before  leaving  for  the  seminary.  The  church  was  finished 
and  dedicated  late  that  autumn.  The  greatest  accom- 
plishment of  the  summer  was  the  uniting  of  the  Christians 
of  the  village  into  fellowship.  The  Baptists  and  Methodists 
united  with  the  Congregationalists  in  the  Sunday  School, 
the  prayer-meeting  and  in  the  Sabbath  services.  A  relig- 
ious interest  was  aroused  among  many  of  the  young  people, 
several  of  whom  united  with  the  church. 

During  his  second  year  at  the  seminary  his  letters  show 
the  reality  of  his  relationship  with  Christ  and  the  sense 
of  privilege  in  companionship  with  Him.  "  Last  night  we 
had  a  splendid  union  prayer-meeting  of  the  three  seminaries. 
I  have  been  thinking  today  of  two  thoughts  presented  there : 
—  one,  that  leading  a  sinner  to  Christ  brings  us  nearer  to 
Him  than  anything  else;  the  other,  that  we  do  not  need 
to  get  hold  of  Christ  so  much  as  that  He  should  get  hold 
of  us;  take  us  body  and  mind,  and  do  with  us  as  he  will." 

His  reading  during  the  middle  year  at  Chicago  included 
Longfellow,  Tennyson  and  Browning,  and  the  lives  of  John 
Wesley  and  George  Whitefield.  The  early  life  and  struggles 
of  Whitefield,  with  his  later  success  as  an  evangelist, 
stirred  him.  He  writes,  "  He  was  a  genius,  and  his  ability 
was  devoted  to  Christ.  I  have  not  that  genius,  but  oh, 
I  do  long  for  that  same  devotion  which  will  give  me  suc- 
cess in  proportion  to  my  ability."  He  was  working  hard 
at  his  homiletics,  striving  to  improve  his  style  of  writing 
and  delivery.  With  this  in  view  he  studied  the  wide  range 
of  preachers  and  preaching  that  Chicago  pulpits  offered. 

Through  the  summer  of  1867,  he  supplied  the  Congre- 
gational Church  at  Turner  Junction,  near  Chicago.  He 
took  up  his  work  there  on  the  first  of  May,  but  was  too 
tired  to  do  his  best.  The  long  strain  of  military  and  stu- 
dent life,  with  the  tremendous  pace  of  work  that  he  had 
maintained,  had  told  on  his  vitality,  and  he  needed  a  rest. 


STUDENT  LIFE  AGAIN  99 

He  continued  at  Turner  Junction  until  July,  when,  acting 
on  the  advice  of  a  Chicago  specialist,  he  took  a  month's 
tour  of  the  Great  Lakes,  which  sent  him  back  to  his  post 
with  new  enthusiasm. 

One  incident  of  the  summer  he  never  tired  of  relating 
in  after  years.  He  boarded  in  the  home  of  an  old  deacon 
who  expected  him,  as  the  "  parson,"  to  lead  the  morning 
worship.  After  several  days  of  leading  the  family  devo- 
tions, Colonel  Davis  suggested  that  the  old  gentleman 
conduct  the  morning  prayers  himself.  The  deacon's  indig- 
nation was  intense.  He  turned  on  the  theologue  with 
blazing  eyes  and  an  explosive,  —  "  Do  you  expect  me  to 
keep  a  dog  and  bark  too! ! ! " 

One  pleasant  feature  of  the  life  at  Chicago  was  a  literary 
society  composed  of  a  group  of  seminary  men  and  of  young 
ladies  belonging  to  the  best  families  in  Union  Park  Church. 
The  students  were  made  welcome  in  these  cultured  homes. 

Colonel  Davis  greatly  enjoyed  these  gatherings.  But  it 
was  not  from  this  group  of  young  people  that  the  summons 
to  surrender  reached  his  heart.  That  capitulation  had 
already  been  made  to  a  neighbor  and  friend  of  his  child- 
hood. Toward  the  close  of  the  war,  Colonel  Davis  had 
remarked  to  his  chaplain  that  he  believed  he  had  not  yet 
seen  the  woman  who  was  to  to  be  his  wife.  Mr.  Wain- 
right  gave  as  his  opinion  that  "  the  very  best  living 
girl  "  was  Miss  Sophia  Strong,  who  was  a  member  of  his 
Dundee  Church.  The  subject  was  dropped,  but  the  mis- 
chief had  been  done,  for  the  thought  kept  returning  through 
the  following  year  whether  he  had  not  better  test  the  judg- 
ment of  the  chaplain,  and  in  the  summer  after  his  gradua- 
tion from  Beloit  he  became  engaged  to  Miss  Strong. 
Sophia  Strong  was  five  years  younger  than  Jerome  Davis, 
the  daughter  of  Rev.  Ephraim  Strong,  a  Presbyterian  min- 
ister, of  Naperville,  111.,  who  had  died  shortly  after  her 
birth.  She  was  a  first  cousin  of  Dr.  Josiah  Strong*  of  New 


100  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

York,  the  pioneer  in  modern  social  service.  Some  years 
after  her  father's  death  her  mother  had  married  Mr.  Alfred 
Edwards,  a  merchant  of  Dundee,  in  whose  home  she  was 
reared  with  her  two  older  sisters.  While  Colonel  Davis 
was  studying  in  Chicago  Seminary,  his  fiancee  taught  in 
the  Ladies'  Seminary  at  Rockford,  111.,  where  she  had 
recently  been  graduated. 

The  early  part  of  his  senior  year  in  the  seminary,  Colonel 
Davis  took  no  outside  work,  but  in  the  winter  of  1868  he 
supplied  the  church  at  Sandwich,  111.,  the  home  of  some 
regimental  comrades.  In  March,  the  Sandwich  Church 
gave  him  a  call  for  six  months  with  a  view  to  a  permanent 
pastorate.  The  church  and  community  were  unusually 
congenial,  while  the  proximity  of  the  town  to  Chicago  and 
to  Dundee  were  added  attractions.  Friday  afternoons  saw 
him  taking  the  Chicago,  Burlington  and  Quincy  train  for 
Sandwich,  where  he  spent  two  days,  returning  to  the  sem- 
inary on  Monday  morning.  An  ill-timed  jump  from  the 
train,  one  Monday  morning,  as  Colonel  Davis  used  to  say, 
may  have  changed  the  history  of  his  life.  "  The  C.  B.  & 
Q.  runs  a  mile  south  of  our  seminary  and,  by  jumping  off 
the  train  at  a  point  where  it  usually  slowed  down  to  four 
miles  an  hour,  and  walking  across  to  Ashland  Boulevard, 
I  could  save  an  hour's  time.  I  had  generally  done  this, 
but  one  morning  they  were  running  faster  than  I  thought, 
with  the  result  that  my  nose  was  so  badly  broken  that  I 
could  not  go  to  Sandwich  the  next  Sabbath,  and  I  got  one 
of  my  classmates,  an  able  man,  to  go  in  my  place."  This 
able  classmate  was  none  other  than  his  chum,  D.  D.  Hill. 
Hill's  large-hearted  geniality  and  adaptation  for  pastoral 
work  won  the  hearts  of  the  congregation,  and  before  the 
Colonel's  nose  had  healed,  the  Sandwich  Church  had  re- 
considered its  call  in  favor  of  his  friend.  It  was  a  delicate 
situation:  Hill  was  his  best  friend  and  though  he  had  con- 
sidered the  call  to  Sandwich  as  practically  settled,  he  at 


STUDENT  LIFE  AGAIN  101 

once  sent  in  his  resignation.  This  was  a  severe  blow  to 
Colonel  Davis'  professional  pride,  but  he  spent  no  time  in 
vain  regrets  and,  immediately  after  graduation  accepted 
a  call  to  a  church  in  Mineral  Point,  Wisconsin. 


CHAPTER  IX 
THE  HARDEST  FIELD 

SHORTLY  before  graduating  from  Chicago  Theological 
Seminary,  Colonel  Davis  called  upon  Secretary  J.  E.  Roy 
of  the  Congregational  Home  Missionary  Society,  and  in- 
quired if  there  was  any  work  for  him  in  the  deep  interior. 
Said  he,  "  I  want  you  to  give  me  the  hardest  field  west  of 
the  Mississippi  River."  Dr.  Roy  was  struck  both  by  the 
unusual  request  and  by  Colonel  Davis'  adaptation  for  a 
pioneer  field,  and  mentioned  Cheyenne,  Wyoming,  as  a 
post  meeting  the  requirements.  He  wrote  the  same  day  to 
Dr.  D.  B.  Coe,  general  secretary  of  the  society  in  New 
York:  "  April  22,  1869:  We  have  conquered  a  Colonel.  Lt.- 
Col.  J.  D.  Davis  came  to  me  today  to  inquire  if  there  was 
any  work  for  him  in  the  Far  West.  I  mentioned  Cheyenne. 
If  you  want  a  man  for  that  point,  Davis  is  the  one.  A 
Beloit  student,  he  went  into  the  war  a  private,  and  came 
out  a  Colonel,  loved  and  honored  by  his  men.  Returning, 
he  finished  his  studies  at  Beloit  and  has  taken  his  full 
course  here.  .  .  .  The  qualities  exhibited  as  a  soldier,  he 
possesses  in  his  Christian  character.  He  was  the  man  who 
used  his  two  vacations  to  bring  up  the  Algonquin  and 
Turner  churches  so  splendidly.  He  has  organizing  ability. 
He  is  one  of  the  very  first  in  his  class  for  talent;  has  a 
fine  appearance,  about  twenty-eight  years  old  and  un- 
married. You  will  be  safe  in  giving  him  a  commission  at 
once.  A  prominent  church  wants  him,  but  he  prefers  the 
interior." 

During  his  third  week  of  service  at  Mineral  Point,  while 
considering  the  invitation  of  that  church  to  become  its 
pastor,  a  letter  from  the  Home  Missionary  Society  arrived 

102 


THE  HARDEST  FIELD  103 

which  put  the  question  of  Cheyenne  before  him.  A 
frontier  field  like  Wyoming  offered  exactly  the  conditions 
which  appealed  to  him  and  it  did  not  take  long  to  decide 
in  favor  of  the  call.  It  was  another  matter,  however, 
to  ask  a  woman,  reared  as  delicately  as  Miss  Strong  had 
been,  to  share  a  pioneer  life  with  him.  Mrs.  Edwards  had 
already  given  one  daughter  to  Micronesia,  and  felt  a  nat- 
ural reluctance  to  her  youngest  daughter's  settling  so  far 
from  home.  A  compromise  was  finally  arranged,  by  which 
it  was  settled  that  Colonel  Davis  should  enter  the  new 
field  alone,  thoroughly  investigate  it  and,  if  it  seemed  suit- 
able as  a  permanent  location,  return  for  his  bride. 

He  wished  to  be  ordained  before  going  to  Cheyenne,  in 
order  to  be  able,  from  the  start,  to  exercise  the  full  duties 
of  the  ministry.  It  was  a  mutual  joy  that  his  friend  Hill 
could  receive  ordination  with  him.  The  council  was  ap- 
pointed for  the  first  Sabbath  in  June,  in  the  Dundee 
Church,  with  Dr.  J.  E.  Roy  officiating. 

Colonel  Davis  reached  his  new  field  on  the  4th  of  June, 
1869.  Cheyenne,  at  this  time,  was  the  terminus  of  the 
Union  Pacific  Railroad,  and  was  little  more  than  a  great 
construction  camp.  The  railroad  shops,  Fort  Russell, 
a  United  States  Army  post,  and  the  capital  of  the  Terri- 
tory had  all  been  located  at  Cheyenne  and  assured  a  future 
to  the  town.  It  was  already  an  important  supply  point 
for  the  whole  region.  Vice  of  every  kind  flourished.  Sixty 
saloons,  besides  gambling  houses  and  dance  halls,  the  pre- 
cursors of  western  civilization,  were  the  lodestones  which 
drew  the  men  of  the  plains  and  mountains  to  the  new  city. 
There  were  a  few  decent  men  in  the  place,  but  it  doubtless 
merited  its  nickname,  "  Hell  on  Wheels."  A  few  miles 
before  reaching  his  destination,  Colonel  Davis  read  the 
following  advertisement  in  the  Cheyenne  daily  paper;  "  I 
will  fight  my  dog,  '  Jerry,'  vs.  the  wildcat,  next  Sunday 
afternoon,  at  two  o'clock,  in  the  Theatre.  Admission:  one 


104  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

dollar."     Within  two  weeks  he  was  holding  Sunday  even- 
ing services  in  this  theatre. 

The  Presbyterians  and  Congregationalists  of  the  town 
had  united  in  calling  him  to  form  a  Congregational  Church. 
In  view  of  this  united  action  he  was  not  prepared  to  find 
that  the  Presbyterian  Home  Missionary  Society  had  also 
sent  their  agent  to  Cheyenne  and  had  taken  steps  toward 
organizing  a  Presbyterian  Church.  The  Christians  of  the 
little  community  were  divided;  some,  attracted  by  the 
Presbyterian  promise  of  a  church  edifice,  had  given  up 
the  union  plan,  but  others  remained  true  to  their  Congrega- 
tional friends  and  pledged  their  support  to  Colonel  Davis. 

It  was  a  crucial  problem  whether  to  attempt  a  parallel 
organization  with  a  powerful  society  entering  the  field, 
ready  to  back  up  its  representative  with  a  liberal  subsidy. 
He  wrote  to  Dr.  Coe: — "I  received  my  commission  this 
week,  started  Wednesday  and  arrived  here  yesterday  after- 
noon. The  Presbyterians  are  trying  to  organize.  The 
society  offers  $5,000.00  for  a  building.  It  is  a  big  bait. 
I  am  commissioned  and  ordained  to  this  work  and  shall 
hold  on  if  half  a  dozen  will  stand  by  me,  provided  your 
society  will  do  so,  too.  ...  I  think  there  will  be  room  for 
the  two  churches  here  soon.  We  shall  organize,  June  13th. 
...  It  will  take,  at  least,  $1,600.00  to  support  us.  ...  I 
have  to  pay  $14.00  a  week  for  board.  I  want  to  be  free, 
head,  hands  and  heart,  to  work  among  this  people  during 
the  first  year.  I  think  the  people  here  will,  in  any  event, 
raise  $600.00  and  I  want  to  know  whether  your  society  will 
pledge  the  balance  and  advise  me  to  remain.  If  not,  please 
send  me  a  telegram  not  to  organize.  Our  people  here  are 
almost  discouraged,  and  will  have  to  be  held  up,  but  I 
hope  that  we  can  yet  secure  united  effort.  I  shall  have  no 
controversy  with  any  one." 

Three   days   later   he  wrote:  —  "Everything   is   working 
well.     The   Presbyterians  may  go  on  with   their  building, 


THE  HARDEST  FIELD  105 

but  some  of  them  will  unite  with  us.  I  am  finding  one  or 
two  new  Congregationalists  every  day.  We  are  sure  of 
ten  to  unite  with  us  next  Sabbath.  .  .  .  Our  people  would 
have  given  up  easily  if  I  had  backed  off  ...  and  that  is 
what  the  Presbyterian  Society  expected,  but  I  have  not 
thought  of  it  for  a  moment  and  now  we  are  gaining  heart 
every  day.  I  have  a  delightful  room,  looking  out  upon 
Long's  Peak,  the  Rocky  Mountains'  snowy  range  and  the 
Black  Hills.  I  took  a  ride  today  with  Mr.  Snow,  Gov. 
Campbell  of  Wyoming,  Judge  Howe,  Gov.  McCook  of 
Colorado,  and  some  ladies.  We  went  about  fifteen  miles 
west  among  the  hills,  occasionally  shooting  an  antelope." 

What  the  situation  at  Cheyenne  needed  in  this  critical 
juncture  was  firm  decision  and  prompt  action.  At  these 
points  the  new  pastor  did  not  fail.  After  ten  days  of  in- 
tense work  and  consultation  and  prayer,  the  little  band  of 
Congregationalists  in  Cheyenne  was  welded  together  and  a 
church  organized  on  June  13th.  The  following  day  he 
wrote:  —  "  Dear  Dr.  Coe:  —  God  is  with  us  and  we  have 
succeeded  beyond  expectations.  I  drew  up  a  paper  a  week 
ago  which  virtually  organized  our  church.  I  signed  it  my- 
self and  as  soon  as  one  more  signed  it  we  had  our  church. 
I  kept  on  praying  and  working  all  the  week  and  by  Satur- 
day night  thirteen  had  signed  the  paper.  That  evening  we 
had  a  meeting,  adopted  a  constitution,  creed  and  covenant. 
We  elected  a  deacon,  clerk,  treasurer  and  five  trustees, 
consisting  of  Chief  Justice  Howe,  another  prominent  busi- 
ness man  outside  the  church  and  three  church  members. 
Yesterday  we  entered  into  covenant  with  each  other  and 
with  God,  eleven  joining  by  letter  and  two  on  confession. 
We  were  all  alone.  It  is  four  hundred  miles  to  our  nearest 
neighbor,  East,  and  1,200  miles  to  the  first  church  of  our 
order,  West;  we  have  five  churches  over  one  hundred  miles 
South,  only  two  of  them  manned,  and  there  is  nothing  be- 
tween us  and  the  North  Pole.  Tonight,  we  elect  sub- 


106  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

scription  and  building  committees,  and  proceed  at  once  to 
secure  a  place  of  worship.  .  .  .  We  are  gaining  strength 
every  day.  It  looked  very  dark  when  I  first  came,  but 
now  I  can  see  God's  hand  in  the  counter  movement.  If 
all  had  gone  in  with  us  we  should  have  had  trouble  sooner 
or  later.  Now  we  have  a  distinctively  Congregational 
Church  and  are  entirely  united.  .  .  ." 

Dr.  Coe,  Secretary  of  the  Congregational  Home  Mission- 
ary Society,  was  troubled  by  the  Cheyenne  situation,  and 
wrote,  advising  to  wait  a  few  weeks  before  organizing  a 
church.  He  delayed  the  answer  to  the  Colonel's  report  of 
the  situation  so  long,  however,  that  his  advice  was  too  late. 
Having  had  no  order  to  the  contrary  from  headquarters, 
the  new  pastor  had  taken  the  responsibility  upon  himself. 
He  replied  to  Dr.  Coe,  "  Your  favor  in  reply  to  the  letter  I 
sent  on  my  arrival  here  was  received  the  day  after  we 
had  organized  our  church,  so  that  it  was  too  late  to  wait  a 
few  weeks.  Everything  here  seemed  to  indicate  that 
prompt  action  was  best.  We  are  prospering.  The  community 
is  subscribing  toward  an  edifice  and  in  the  meantime  we  are 
holding  Sabbath  evening  services  in  the  theatre." 

Once  that  organization  had  been  effected,  Colonel  Davis* 
belief  in  the  enterprise  and  his  enthusiasm  for  its  future 
was  very  strong.  It  required  no  prophet  to  see  that  Chey- 
enne was  destined  for  a  future  of  considerable  importance, 
and  it  hurt  him  to  have  his  society  take  the  position 
that  the  new  church  was  in  the  nature  of  an  experiment. 
"  I  object  to  you  calling  this  enterprise  '  an  experiment.' 
Are  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad,  or  our  denomination  or  the 
Gospel  experiments?  This  enterprise  will  succeed  as  surely 
as  those  things  are  sure.  The  work  here  looks  perfectly 
grand  to  me.  I  do  not  know  of  a  place  on  this  continent 
where  such  an  important  work  can  be  done  for  Christianity 
as  right  here  in  Cheyenne.  I  thank  God  continually  that 
He  has  honored  me  by  calling  me  to  it." 


THE  HARDEST  FIELD  107 

After  organization  came  church  building.  He  encour- 
aged the  building  committee  by  working  with  a  subscrip- 
tion paper  himself.  He  was  impatient  under  a  series  of 
delays  in  getting  the  committee  at  work,  and  his  joy  when 
the  whole  committee  were  pushing  the  canvass  abreast  was 
great.  Three  two-hundred  dollar  pledges  and  several  gifts 
of  one  hundred  dollars  each  were  made  by  leading  men, 
including  the  Governor  of  the  Territory.  One  thousand  five 
hundred  was  given  by  Cheyenne  citizens,  over  half  coming 
from  non-Christian  men. 

He  secured  the  $1,300  still  needed,  in  equal  proportions 
from  the  Church  Building  Society  and  from  friends  in 
Chicago,  so  that  the  church  was  built  and  furnished  with- 
out a  debt.  Through  General  T.  A.  Dodge,  his  old  divi- 
sion commander,  now  President  of  the  Union  Pacific  Rail- 
way, not  only  was  a  quarter  of  a  block  in  the  finest  part  of 
town  given  as  a  site,  but  the  lumber  for  church  and  par- 
sonage was  hauled  over  the  Union  Pacific,  free  of  cost. 

During  ten  days  in  Chicago  he  secured  pledges  for  $1,000 
in  lumber,  which  had  to  be  collected  from  distant  yards, 
carted  to  the  assembling  point  and  started  West.  With 
the  money  saved  from  his  officer's  salary,  he  bought  the 
lumber  for  a  small  house,  had  it  planed  and  ripped  to  the 
right  widths  for  flooring,  casing,  etc.,  purchased  glazed 
windows  and  doors,  lathe  and  pasteboard  to  use  instead  of 
plaster,  and  tarred  pasteboard  to  keep  out  the  northern 
blasts. 

With  the  building  materials  for  his  new  church  and  house 
assured,  he  went  to  Dundee  and,  on  the  15th  of  July,  was 
married  to  Miss  Strong  in  her  mother's  home.  A  wedding 
trip  of  a  month's  duration  followed,  including  a  voyage 
around  the  Great  Lakes,  four  days  at  Niagara  Falls  and 
visits  with  relatives  in  Rochester  and  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  and 
in  Ohio.  Floods  in  Iowa  so  delayed  the  moving  of  building 
materials  and  goods  that  they  had  to  live  for  a  month, 


108  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

after  reaching  Cheyenne,  in  the  home  of  the  Collector  of 
Internal  Revenue,  whose  hospitality  saved  them  serious 
inconvenience. 

Colonel  Davis  set  to  work  at  once  to  prepare  the  foun- 
dations of  the  church  and  parsonage.  He  borrowed  a  team 
and  wagon  and  hauled  stone,  quarried  with  his  own  hands, 
from  the  hills.  Neighbors  told  him  that  no  two-story 
house  built  of  wood  could  stand  against  the  violent  winter 
gales,  but  he  believed  differently.  Digging  a  deep  pit  at 
the  windward  corner  of  the  house,  he  sunk  a  pitch-pine  tree 
trunk,  a  foot  in  diameter,  six  feet  in  the  earth,  filled  it  in 
with  concrete  and  spiked  the  sill  beams  of  the  house  to 
this  tree  trunk.  He  laid  up  the  stone  foundation,  put  on 
the  sills,  dug  the  cellar,  and  had  all  in  readiness  for  putting 
the  frame  together  when  the  lumber  finally  arrived.  The 
workmen  on  the  church  raised  the  four  side  bents  of  the 
frame,  which  was  the  only  help  he  had  in  building  his 
house,  except  that  which  his  wife  gave  him.  "  She  helped 
me  by  holding  one  end  of  the  longer  boards,  or  holding 
the  posts  while  I  nailed  them,  and  later  by  nailing  on  the 
lath  inside  the  house  and  the  pasteboard,  etc.;  all  this, 
besides  doing  the  cooking  and  housework."  And  so  it  was 
that  the  "  tenderfoot  parson  "  and  his  wife  built  the  first 
two-story  frame  house  in  Wyoming,  a  house  so  well  con- 
structed that,  after  forty-five  years,  it  still  stands  as  a 
monument  to  the  resourcefulness  and  determination  of  the 
builder. 

The  winds  were  so  severe  that  they  were  kept  awake 
many  a  night  by  the  small  pebbles  blown  against  the  side 
of  the  house.  Faces  had  to  be  covered  when  facing  one 
of  these  storms,  which  would  leave  a  thick  coating  of  dust; 
but  in  the  midst  of  these  difficulties  the  minister  and  his 
bride  worked  on. 

Shortly  after  the  arrival  of  the  lumber,  word  came  that 
they  must  immediately  vacate  their  temporary  quarters. 


THE  HARDEST  FIELD  109 

The  little  wing,  8  x  10  ft.,  was  already  enclosed,  but  the 
doors  and  windows  were  not  in  and  the  roof  was  only 
half  shingled.  A  furious  snowstorm  was  raging  that  day, 
and  he  had  to  brush  off  the  snow  constantly  to  see  the 
lines  while  he  finished  the  roof,  sitting  on  the  shingles  as  he 
took  them  out  one  by  one.  He  nailed  up  the  doors  and  win- 
dows with  boards,  moved  up  the  few  goods  from  the  other 
house,  and  they  began  housekeeping  in  their  tiny  room. 
Several  marriages  were  solemnized  in  that  little  room.  The 
parsonage  was  finished  before  Christmas.  The  pastor 
painted  his  house  white,  encircled  it  with  a  picket  fence,  and 
in  the  spring  went  to  the  hills  for  cottonwood  trees,  which 
he  planted  in  front  of  both  parsonage  and  church. 

Thanksgiving  Day  overtook  them  in  their  narrow  quar- 
ters. The  previous  evening  a  friend  called  and  asked  them 
to  step  over  to  the  church,  whose  unfinished  interior  was 
well  lighted  and  nearly  filled  with  friends  gathered  about 
the  work  benches,  which  were  loaded  with  eatables.  Before 
Colonel  Davis  had  recovered  from  his  surprise,  one  of 
the  trustees  presented  him  with  a  pocketbook  containing 
$150.00  in  the  name  of  the  assembled  company.  Upon 
the  list  of  presents,  which  represented  nearly  every  possible 
commodity  for  the  table,  as  well  as  useful  articles  for  the 
housekeeper,  was  written  the  name  of  nearly  every  family 
in  town,  including  Catholics  and  scores  who  had  no  church 
connections,  and  many  men  without  families.  The  next 
morning,  a  merchant,  who  had  been  out  of  town  the  night 
before,  sent  his  wagon  to  the  parsonage  half  filled  with 
groceries,  a  barrel  of  flour,  two  bushels  of  potatoes,  etc. 
No  eloquent  sermons  could  account  for  such  a  community 
response,  nor  was  it  only  that  the  new  parson  had  visited 
everybody  and  tried  to  speak  a  sympathetic  word  to  all. 
When  the  committee  was  soliciting  gifts,  many  a  rough  man 
had  said: — "  If  it's  for  that  man  who  is  building  his  own 
house,  I  want  to  give:  he's  the  kind  of  a  parson  I  believe  in." 


110  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

With  the  completion  of  the  church  building  the  duties 
of  the  pulpit  and  pastorate  assumed  definite  shape.  It  was 
not  easy  to  secure  or  hold  an  audience  in  Cheyenne.  A 
few  attended  services  faithfully,  but  the  bulk  of  the  con- 
gregation would  change  with  every  new  supply  of  the  other 
pulpits  in  the  town.  The  Sabbath  School  thrived,  and 
when,  once  in  two  months,  the  Sabbath  School  concert  was 
held,  the  church,  which  would  seat  two  hundred  persons, 
was  packed  to  the  doors.  The  prayer- meeting  was  a  diffi- 
cult problem.  "  At  first  it  was  very  hard  to  get  anybody 
to  take  part.  They  were  all  out  of  the  habit  of  praying  or 
speaking.  I  determined  to  get  them  into  it  again,  and  so 
gave  out  interesting,  practical  subjects.  After  brief  open- 
ing exercises,  I  put  the  subject  before  them  in  the  form  of 
questions,  in  a  conversational  way,  bringing  a  chair  down 
the  aisle  to  sit  with  the  people  in  one  corner  of  the  room. 
Before  they  knew  it,  they  became  interested,  and  spoke 
their  views,  and  offered  many  brief  and  touching  prayers." 

Cheyenne  was  made  up  of  a  motley  population.  Some 
were  from  New  England  and  had  a  piano  in  the  single 
room  of  their  home.  Some  were  from  the  old  West,  some 
from  the  new,  while  soldiers  of  fortune  from  England  and 
Europe  were  mixed  with  men  from  the  South,  who  had  lost 
all  in  the  Civil  War.  They  were  alike  in  one  respect  only; 
all  had  come  West  to  make  their  fortune,  few  expecting  to 
build  permanent  homes.  Religion  had  usually  been  left 
behind,  and  when  the  pastor  tried  to  talk  personally  about 
church  membership  and  the  Christian  life,  he  was  told 
again  and  again,  "  God  hasn't  crossed  the  Missouri  River 
yet."  Recklessness,  immorality  and  crime  ran  rampant 
through  the  town.  The  "badman  "  type,  so  familiar  dur- 
ing the  following  decade,  was  already  in  evidence.  The  first 
eighty  men  who  were  buried  in  the  wretched  cemetery 
died  with  their  boots  on,  and  when  Colonel  Davis  arrived 
in  Cheyenne,  a  self-appointed  vigilance  committee  had  left 


THE  HARDEST  FIELD  111 

six  ruffians  hanging  to  the  telegraph  poles.  The  few  decent 
families  in  the  community  were,  for  along  while,  afraid  to 
get  acquainted  with  each  other,  for  it  was  hard  to  know 
who  were  respectable  and  who  were  not.  Upon  the  com- 
pletion of  the  railroad,  the  daily  transcontinental  trains 
met  during  the  hour  of  the  morning  service  and  greatly 
interfered  with  regular  church  attendance. 

Such  were  the  obstacles  that  the  new  preacher  had  to 
contend  with.  It  was  a  situation  whose  handling  needed 
a  fearless  and  practical  man.  That  he  was  a  seasoned 
veteran  soldier  was  known  to  everyone  and  was  greatly  in 
his  favor,  and  enabled  him  to  go  where  many  men  would 
have  hesitated.  "  I  visited  everybody  in  the  town,  save 
the  inmates  of  the  houses  of  prostitution,  and  called  on 
the  keepers  of  these  places  and  talked  plainly  with  them." 
His  sympathy  for  these  unfortunate  women  was  deep,  and 
several  times  he  was  asked  to  conduct  funeral  services  for 
them.  Mrs.  Davis  loyally  supported  her  husband  in  his 
efforts  to  make  Cheyenne  a  cleaner  city.  They  offered 
their  home  as  a  refuge  for  any  fallen  woman  who  would 
come  to  them  in  an  effort  to  reform,  publishing  this  invita- 
tion, with  an  appeal  to  such  women,  in  the  daily  news- 
paper. 

He  interpreted  the  work  of  the  pastorate  in  a  large  way, 
taking  a  keen  interest  in  public  affairs  and  in  every  munic- 
ipal activity.  Whether  it  was  the  caring  for  the  sick 
apple  woman  at  the  Cheyenne  station,  a  prayer  with  the 
dying  cow-boy,  shot  to  death  on  the  main  street  of  the 
town,  the  introduction  of  a  system  of  water-works,  the  re- 
moval of  the  public  cemetery  to  a  better  site,  or  the  im- 
provement of  the  public  schools,  there  was  no  movement 
for  municipal  betterment  but  aroused  his  enthusiasm  and 
cooperation.  He  saw  that  Cheyenne's  future  depended 
upon  an  adequate  water  supply,  and  began  a  campaign  of 
education,  using  the  press,  his  pulpit  and  personal  calls 


112  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

as  means  of  keeping  the  matter  before  the  attention  of  the 
town.  The  pastor  did  not  stop  with  argument,  but  shoul- 
dered a  shovel  and  worked  with  the  citizens  in  the  great 
ditch  by  which  the  waters  of  Crow  Creek  were  finally 
turned  into  a  natural  basin  above  the  town.  His  perti- 
nent suggestions  as  to  improving  the  public  school  system 
of  Laramie  County  resulted  in  Governor  Campbell's  ap- 
pointing him  county  superintendent  of  schools,  a  position 
which  he  held  during  the  last  year  in  Cheyenne. 

This  was  the  type  of  Christianity  that  the  people  of  the 
frontier  town  appreciated  more  than  pulpit  power.  One  of 
his  parishioners  wrote  many  years  later:  —  "He  was  an 
interesting  speaker,  but  it  was  the  spirit  of  service  that 
gave  special  force  to  his  pulpit  efforts  and  brought  people 
out  to  see  what  such  a  man  would  have  to  say."  One  of 
his  deacons  said:  —  "I  never  saw  a  man  who  worked  so 
hard  or  who  was  so  deeply  in  earnest  in  all  he  did."  After 
a  church  excursion,  the  proceeds  of  which  had  purchased 
a  bell  for  the  Congregational  Church,  the  Methodist  minis- 
ter called  on  Colonel  Davis  and  said,  "  Now  see  here, 
Brother  Davis,  you  have  milked  this  cow  long  enough. 
It  is  time  that  you  stand  back  and  let  some  of  the  rest  of 
us  have  a  chance." 

In  the  late  spring  of  1870,  a  little  son,  Jay  Doane,  came 
to  the  parsonage,  named  after  his  missionary  uncle  in  Micro- 
nesia. Eight  months  later,  after  a  sickness  of  two  days, 
they  laid  him  away  in  the  lot  beside  the  church.  "  This 
was  to  us  a  blessed  experience.  I  had  never  before  real- 
ized the  meaning  of  the  word,  '  blessedness.'  The  thought 
that  the  Heavenly  Father  loved  us  so  much  as  to  provide 
a  way  of  salvation  for  the  little  ones,  and  that  the  same 
Saviour  who  took  the  children  in  his  arms  and  blessed 
them,  and  said,  '  of  such  is  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven,' 
would  come  now  and  receive  him  so  that  we  could  be  sure 
that  our  darling  would  be  cared  for  and  trained  far  better 


THE  HARDEST  FIELD  113 

than  we  possibly  could;  that  he  was  forever  safe;  these 
thoughts  quite  overcame  me,  as  we  bowed  together  the 
next  morning  in  our  family  devotions." 

During  the  winter  of  1870,  an  event  occurred  which  was 
instrumental  in  his  decision  to  change  his  field  and  to 
preach  Christ  to  those  who  had  never  heard  of  Him. 
During  one  of  his  regular  visits  at  Fort  Russell,  he  learned 
of  an  Indian  who  was  under  sentence  of  death  for  having 
killed  a  white  man  who  had  attacked  his  wife.  The  Post 
Commandant  gave  Colonel  Davis  permission  to  see  the 
prisoner  whenever  he  wished,  and  he  walked  the  four  miles 
between  Cheyenne  and  the  fort  many  times  to  visit  the 
Indian  in  his  cell.  "  He  only  knew  ten  or  twelve  words  of 
English,  but  by  signs  we  talked  a  little,  until  I  finally 
brought  a  picture  of  Christ  upon  the  cross,  and  with  this 
attempted  to  make  him  understand.  It  was  hard  to  make 
him  realize  that  he  was  a  sinner.  With  the  engraving  I 
succeeded  in  making  him  understand  that  the  Father,  the 
Great  Spirit,  sent  his  Son  to  die  for  sinners,  and  that  all 
who  would  believe  on  him,  repenting  of  their  sins,  would 
go  to  the  home  of  the  Great  Spirit.  He  made  a  remarkable 
drawing  of  the  scene  of  his  punishment,  himself  standing 
upon  the  gallows,  rope  about  his  neck,  with  one  hand 
pointing  up,  while  Christ  was  near  upon  a  cross,  and  the 
Great  Spirit  above." 

On  the  morning  of  the  execution  Colonel  Davis  visited 
the  Indian  in  his  cell  and  walked  with  him  to  the  gallows. 
After  the  rope  had  been  adjusted  about  the  neck  of  the 
condemned  man,  the  pastor  stood  beside  him  and  made  a 
brief  prayer,  commending  him  to  the  Heavenly  Father. 
The  prisoner  said  a  few  words  in  broken  English,  "  Me  not 
afraid  to  die;  me  go  up,"  pointing  upward  with  his  finger, 
and  the  drop  fell.  This  experience  of  giving  the  poor 
Indian  a  first  glimpse  of  the  loving  heart  of  the  Great 
Father  increased  the  latent  desire  to  give  his  life  to  the 


114  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

millions,  across  the  Pacific,  who  had  never  heard  of 
Him. 

The  field  of  the  great  West  had  attracted  Colonel  Davis 
as  one  of  immediate  and  future  need.  He  sent  frequent 
appeals  to  the  Home  Missionary  Society  and  to  the  Con- 
gregational constituency  to  occupy  the  territory  which  had 
barely  been  entered  and  which  lay  open  to  their  hand. 
After  a  prophetic  statement  of  the  potentialities  of  the 
Rocky  Mountain  region,  he  closed  with  a  plea  for  ade- 
quate occupation:  —  "  In  the  army,  when  a  fierce  battle  is 
raging  at  the  front,  the  hospitals  are  made  ready  to  receive 
the  wounded  whom  the  ambulance  trains  will  soon  unload 
at  their  doors;  they  do  not  wait  till  the  trains  arrive.  Just 
so  here.  We  know  that  millions  of  sick  and  sin-deadened 
souls  will  soon  fill  this  region.  Shall  we  wait  and  later  on 
establish  churches  over  the  graves  of  dead  souls!  Now  is 
the  time  to  possess  this  land.  A  greater  than  Macedonian 
cry  goes  up  from  the  vast  West.  ...  I  cannot  express  the 
importance  of  this  field.  It  cannot  be  told.  It  can  only 
be  felt." 

Although  this  appeal  and  others  of  a  similar  nature  were 
published,  a  year  passed  away  and  nothing  was  done  to 
occupy  the  field  or  to  man  the  churches  already  organized. 
The  Home  Missionary  Society  was  suffering  from  lack  of 
men  and  money  and  could  not  consider  such  an  extensive 
program.  After  its  first  boom,  Cheyenne  had  entered  upon 
a  period  of  depression.  Its  decreasing  population  of  some 
1,500  people  was  being  served  by  five  fully  organized 
churches  and  the  evils  of  sectarianism  became  very  ap- 
parent and  galling  to  Colonel  Davis.  He  chafed  at  the 
overmanning  of  one  point,  at  the  expense  of  the  whole 
field. 

This  inability  of  the  Congregational  Home  Missionary 
Society  to  occupy  the  great  West,  together  with  the  im- 
pelling motive  of  his  life,  worked  the  inevitable;  horizons 


THE  HARDEST  FIELD  115 

now  receded  rapidly  before  his  vision,  which  became 
bounded  by  a  new  frontier,  including  an  ocean  and  an  even 
needier  field  than  the  Rocky  Mountain  region  in  its  sweep. 

The  call  of  the  Far  East  grew  daily  more  incessant  and 
compelling.  He  wrote:  —  "  Our  work  here  has  degenerated 
into  a  sectarian  work.  One  of  the  four  churches  will  hold 
all  that  ever  go  to  church.  We  ought  to  either  give  up  the 
weak  hold  that  we  have  in  this  Territory  and  let  the  other 
denominations  that  are  alive  work  it,  or  else  man  these 
points  at  once,  and  put  a  live  agent  into  the  field." 

After  describing  the  energetic  way  in  which  the  other 
denominations  had  pushed  ahead,  he  says,  "  I  have  watched 
all  this  go  on  for  two  years  and  sometimes  it  seemed  as  if 
I  should  fly  to  pieces.  We  cannot  recover  in  twenty  years 
what  we  have  lost  in  the  last  two.  After  all,  it  is  not  a 
question  of  who  does  the  work,  so  much,  if  it  is  done.  .  .  . 
Now  I  cannot  consent  to  act  as  agent  to  go  into  little 
towns  where  there  are  three  or  four  other  churches  and 
organize  Congregational  churches  and  then  nurse  them  after 
they  are  born.  .  .  .  The  question  is  not  whether  I  am  to 
have  a  hand  in  moulding  this  region  or  Japan.  The  ques- 
tion is  whether  I  am  to  stay  here  where  there  are  two  or 
three  other  workers,  and  where  one  will  come  to  take  my 
place,  or  whether  I  shall  go  to  the  thirty  millions  of  Japan, 
where  no  one  will  take  my  place.  I  prefer  the  latter  and  I 
choose  because  I  believe  that  Christ  chooses  for  me." 

In  the  spring  of  1871,  he  published  in  the  "  Advance  " 
and  "  Congregationalist "  the  facts  which  were  attracting 
him  to  the  foreign  field,  and  invited  four  other  men  to 
consider  the  same  call  and  thus  complete  the  quota  of  five 
missionaries  whom  the  American  Board  needed  for  China, 
He  said:  —  "  The  field  here  is  overcrowded,  as  it  is  all  over 
the  West,  and  in  many  portions  of  the  East.  There  is  no 
difficulty  in  finding  men  for  this  work.  It  is  not  so  with 
the  foreign  field.  Notwithstanding  very  strong  con  vie- 


116  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

tions  I  should  not  offer  myself  to  the  Board  if  men  were 
forthcoming.  Scarcely  any  one  has  responded  to  the  ap- 
peals for  foreign  workers  for  the  last  few  years.  China 
with  nearly  half  the  human  race  has  only  one  Protestant 
minister  to  four  millions.  Japan  has  less.  The  world  will 
not  understand  it,  but  I  know  of  only  one  principle  which 
should  guide  us :  —  where  will  our  lives  amount  for  the 
most  for  Christ!  I  am  selfish  in  the  matter,  as  I  long  to 
have  a  hand  in  laying  the  foundations  of  Christianity 
among  those  millions.  .  .  .  We  realize  on  this  great  high- 
way of  the  nations  that  the  world  is  small  and  that  the 
race  is  one." 

He  sent  copies  of  this  letter  to  most  of  the  pastors  of  his 
acquaintance,  but  without  a  single  favorable  response. 
Prof.  S.  L.  Bartlett  of  Chicago  Seminary  was  the  only 
friend  who  encouraged  him  to  go ;  the  rest  were  not  merely 
indifferent,  but  adverse.  However,  the  inner  conviction 
remained  clear,  and,  together,  Colonel  Davis  and  his  wife 
decided  to  offer  themselves  to  the  American  Board  for  ap- 
pointment. When  it  became  apparent  that  no  one  else 
would  volunteer  to  go  with  them  to  China,  the  question 
of  the  "  one  for  Japan  "  for  whom  the  Board  was  calling, 
came  strongly  home.  He  had  heard  much  of  the  difficul- 
ties of  the  Chinese  language,  and  the  report  that  Japanese 
was  easier  seemed  a  leading  toward  Japan,  for  he  knew 
himself  to  be  handicapped  in  linguistics.  And  so  a  request 
for  appointment  to  Japan,  and  not  China,  was  sent  to  the 
Board  rooms  in  Boston  and  the  appointment  was  made. 

It  was  hard  to  leave  Cheyenne.  Roots  had  struck  in 
deep.  The  people  felt  that  they  could  not  give  up  the 
pastor  who  had  done  so  much  for  church  and  community. 
On  the  other  hand  it  was  hard  to  leave  such  friends  and 
the  first  home  which  they  had  built  together  and  in  which 
they  had  toiled,  and  suffered  and  rejoiced. 

Colonel    Davis  was  anxious    regarding  the    appointment 


THE  HARDEST  FIELD  117 

of  his  successor,  but  had  the  satisfaction  of  securing  Rev. 
Josiah,  now  Dr.  Josiah,  Strong,  who  was  on  the  field  before 
he  left  the  country.  A  seminary  friend,  the  late  Dr.  D.  C. 
Greene,  who  was  already  at  work  under  the  American 
Board  in  Japan,  wrote  in  August,  1871,  of  his  joy  at  Colo- 
nel Davis'  decision:  "You  will  find  need  enough  of  the 
Gospel  here:  a  teachable  people,  a  beautiful  country,  but  a 
government  in  deadly  opposition  to  Christianity  and  bound 
to  use  all  its  power  in  preventing  its  introduction  into  the 
land." 

After  bidding  farewell  to  the  Cheyenne  church,  Colonel 
Davis  and  his  wife  attended  the  annual  meeting  of  the 
American  Board  in  Salem,  Mass.  Here,  he  first  met 
Joseph  Neesima,  who  had  just  entered  Andover  Seminary. 
"  He  elbowed  his  way  through  the  crowd  and  asked  if  we 
were  going  to  Japan,  and  then  grasped  my  hand  and  with 
tears  in  his  eyes  told  how  glad  he  was  to  meet  me,  and 
that  he  was  also  going  back  before  many  years  to  work  for 
Christ." 

There  was  much  to  discourage  in  the  outlook  for  Japan, 
just  then.  The  reaction,  which  caused  the  second  perse- 
cution of  the  Catholic  Christians  in  Nagasaki,  and  the 
arrest  of  Mr.  O.  H.  Gulick's  teacher,  Ichikawa,  in  Kobe, 
had  come,  and  it  seemed  doubtful  whether  they  would  be 
allowed  to  work  in  Japan.  However,  he  had  been  led  to 
apply  for  Japan,  and  had  been  appointed  to  that  field, 
and  he  replied  to  Dr.  L.  H.  Gulick's  proposal  that  he  be 
transferred  to  his  new  field  in  Spain,  that  he  would  go 
on  to  Japan  and  remain  there  if  allowed  to  land,  and  if 
not  allowed  to  land,  he  would  then  consider  some  other 
field, 


CHAPTER  X 
FIRST  YEARS   IN  JAPAN 

MR.  and  Mrs.  Davis  sailed  from  San  Francisco  on  No- 
vember first,  1871.  In  those  days  there  was  but  one 
line  of  passenger  steamers  from  the  Pacific  coast  to 
the  Far  East,  with  one  boat  a  month.  The  "America,"  a  large, 
side-wheel  steamer,  was  slow  and  unsteady,  and  thoroughly 
initiated  the  new  sailors  into  the  mysteries  of  sea  sickness. 
Among  the  fifty  passengers,  were  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Thompson 
of  China,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bradley,  of  Siam,  and  Mr.  Mackay, 
en  route  to  Formosa.  On  a  lovely  autumn  morning  they 
awoke  in  Yodo  Bay,  the  constraint  and  rigors  of  the 
twenty-six  days'  passage  behind,  a  new  world  before. 

"  Who  can  describe  the  first  impressions  which  the  old 
empire  makes  upon  one  who  has  never  before  looked  out 
of  the  new  America.  The  bold  headlands  of  its  rocky 
coast,  its  wave-beaten  islets,  its  precipitous  shores,  deeply 
indented  with  gulfs  and  bays,  its  scudding  fleets  of  white- 
winged  fishing  boats,  its  sharp  peaks  and  steep-terraced 
valleys  and,  over  all,  the  great,  white  cone  of  sacred  '  Fuji,' 
rising  sheer  from  the  waters  of  Sagami  Bay,  all  make  an 
abiding  impression  which  no  later  view  can  efface.  I  shall 
never  forget  the  first  walk  in  Yokohama  from  the  fort  op- 
posite the  harbor,  around  through  the  narrow  streets  back 
to  the  landing.  Every  utensil,  every  building  and  every 
human  being  was  a  novelty.  I  lived  a  week  in  a  few 
hours." 

On  the  first  of  December  they  reached  Kobe,  were  given 
a  hearty  welcome  by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  D.  C.  Greene  and  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  O.  H.  Gulick,  the  missionaries  of  the  American 
Board  already  on  the  field,  and  in  ten  days  were  settled  in 
their  own  rented  house. 

118 


FIRST  YEARS  IN  JAPAN  119 

Although  Protestant  missionaries  had  been  in  the  empire 
for  twelve  years,  slow  progress  had  as  yet  been  made.  The 
imperial  edict  boards  against  Christianity  were  still  stand- 
ing, as  they  had  stood  for  275  years,  making  it  a  capital 
offence  to  accept  Christianity.  The  persecution  of  the 
Catholic  Christians  in  Nagasaki  went  steadily  on.  No  man 
dared  openly  study  the  prescribed  religion,  and  gatherings 
for  preaching  or  teaching  could  be  held  only  in  private 
residences  and  involved  dangers  that  few  cared  to  face. 

The  previous  July,  Mr.  Gulick's  teacher,  Mr.  Yeinosuke 
Ichikawa,  with  his  wife,  was  seized  and  imprisoned  for 
having  read  a  pen-made  copy  of  the  Gospel  of  Mark.  Soon 
after  reaching  Kobe,  Mr.  Davis  called  with  Mr.  Greene 
upon  Governor  Kanda,  of  Hyogo  Prefecture,  on  behalf  of 
the  prisoners.  The  Governor  told  them  that  if  Mr.  Ichi- 
kawa had  received  baptism  there  was  no  hope  of  saving  his 
life,  but  if  not,  it  might  be  possible  to  save  him,  and 
promised  to  inquire  regarding  the  man. 

They  afterward  learned  that  Mr.  Ichikawa  had  died  in 
prison,  previous  to  their  call  upon  the  Governor.  His  wife, 
who  was  released,  reported  that  he  had  died  with  great 
joy  in  his  heart,  trusting  in  Christ.  Thus  suffered  the 
first  and  only  Protestant  martyr  in  Japan. 

The  Bible  was  still  a  proscribed  book,  the  Governor  of 
Kobe  announcing  that  if  a  book  seller  sold  a  Bible,  knowing 
it  to  be  such,  he  should  be  obliged,  acting  by  imperial  order, 
to  put  him  in  prison. 

Under  such  handicaps  the  first  Protestant  missionaries 
in  Japan  worked  for  thirteen  years,  until  the  edicts  against 
Christianity  were  finally  removed  in  1872.  Those  were 
days  of  the  testing  of  faith  and  of  waiting,  but  the  new 
missionary  found  himself,  from  the  first,  well  occupied  with 
the  language  and  with  indirect  work.  His  efforts  at  lan- 
guage study  were  characteristic:  "  My  teacher  was  a 
scholar  from  Kyoto.  He  came  the  first  morning  with  a 


120  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

list  of  Chinese  characters  that  he  wished  me  to  learn.  I 
told  him  that  I  wanted  to  learn  to  talk  the  language  of 
the  common  people,  and  so  we  began.  I  used  to  take  a 
string  of  cash  and  spend  hours  in  the  shops,  trying  to  talk 
with  the  people.  There  were  very  few  language  helps.  We 
had  Hepburn's  Dictionary,  and  a  Grammar  written  by  a 
Hollander  who  had  never  seen  Japan.  There  were  no  books 
in  the  colloquial  language." 

To  a  man  of  his  direct  habits  of  speech,  the  circum- 
locutions of  the  language  were  trying,  and  it  was  a  long 
time  before  he  became  reconciled  to  saying,  ;<  The  not 
doing  of  this  must  not  be,"  for  plain  English,  "  You  must." 
He  early  learned  the  value  of  first-hand  bargaining  with 
the  people:  "  I  wanted  a  wash  board,  and  taking  my  serv- 
ant to  a  carpenter  shop,  asked  him  to  bargain  for  the  board. 
I  had  told  my  servant  that  I  could  not  pay  more  than 
fifty  cents,  and,  thereupon,  he  at  once  told  the  carpenter 
to  charge  not  less  than  fifty  cents.  I  never  took  a  servant 
along  to  help  me  after  that." 

During  those  first  weeks  curious  mistakes  were  made. 
Mrs.  Davis,  one  day,  meaning  to  order  "  niku "  (meat), 
for  dinner,  instead,  ordered,  "  neko  "  (a  cat),  and  was  hor- 
rified when  the  cook  brought  in  a  fine  black  cat  and  asked 
if  it  would  do. 

After  ten  days,  the  teacher,  frightened  because  of  gov- 
ernment persecutions  of  the  Nagasaki  Christians,  left,  and 
for  a  year  it  was  difficult  to  find  a  man  who  dared  to  sit 
down  beside  a  missionary  and  teach  him  the  language.  For 
nearly  two  years  the  servants  would  not  listen  to  any 
Christian  teaching. 

Forty  days  after  the  arrival  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Davis,  a 
little  daughter,  whom  they  named  Clara  Strong,  was  born. 

Early  in  June,  1872,  in  company  with  Dr.  and  Mrs.  J.  C. 
Berry,  who  had  just  arrived  to  reinforce  the  mission,  Mr. 
Davis  made  a  visit  to  the  interior  city  of  Kyoto,  the 


FIRST  YEARS  IN  JAPAN  121 

ancient  capital  and  the  center  of  art  and  religion  of  the 
empire.  The  city,  which  had  been  closed  to  foreigners  for 
two  centuries,  was  opened  during  one  hundred  days  for  an 
exhibition  of  arts  and  industries.  While  in  Kyoto  they 
were  invited  by  Mr.  Davis'  old  teacher  to  take  dinner,  as 
guests  of  honor,  with  some  fifty  Japanese  physicians.  This 
experience  profoundly  impressed  Mr.  Davis  with  the  im- 
portance of  Kyoto  as  a  center  for  educational  and  evange- 
listic work.  "  I  shall  never  forget  the  impression  that 
Kyoto  made  upon  me  as  we  stood  on  Maruyama l  and 
heard  the  hum  of  its  traffic  as  it  came  up  to  our  ears.  I 
was  moved  with  the  beauty  of  the  situation,  surrounded 
with  mountains  on  all  sides,  the  magnificent  temples,  the 
great  image  of  Buddha  and  the  lovely  art  objects  of  Japan, 
which  I  now  saw  for  the  first  time.  The  ovation  given 
Dr.  Berry  shows  that  missionary  physicians  are  needed 
here  and  can  exert  an  influence  from  the  first  that  will  be 
felt  by  a  whole  city.  It  shows  that  this  people  is  ready  for 
the  truth  and  will  welcome  contact  with  the  world.  We 
are  expecting  any  morning  to  wake  up  and  find  all  Japan 
open  to  us,  and  then  where  are  the  men  to  put  into  the 
requisite  centers?  We  cannot  overestimate  the  importance 
of  Kyoto.  An  interior  city  of  300,000  people,  it  is  the 
center  of  a  rural  population  of  one  million  within  a  radius 
of  ten  miles.  We  ought  to  have  a  strong  force  of,  at  least, 
three  missionaries  and  a  physician  to  put  in  there  at  once." 
In  July,  upon  the  advice  of  Dr.  Berry,  they  took  the 
baby  to  the  village  of  Arima,  in  the  mountains  north  of 
Kobe,  a  place  noted  for  its  waterfalls  and  medicinal  springs, 
and  lived  in  two  rooms  of  a  Japanese  house  through  the 
hottest  part  of  the  summer.  The  outstanding  event  of  the 
summer  was  a  friendship  formed  with  Viscount  Kuki,  the 
ex-Daimio,2  of  Sanda.  One  August  day  the  Davis  family 

1  A  hill  rising  on  the  eastern  edge  of  the  city. 

2  Daimio,  a  feudal  lord  with  landed  and  proprietary  rights, 


122  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

made  an  excursion  to  the  castle  town  of  Sanda,  the  mother 
and  daughter  riding  in  a  chair  slung  between  two  poles, 
which  the  father  had  built  for  such  outings.  While  resting 
in  the  Sanda  hotel,  the  Daimio's  wife  called  upon  Mrs. 
Davis  with  a  present  of  a  watermelon.  A  little  later,  the 
Viscount  and  his  family  came  up  to  Arima  to  spend  a  few 
weeks  and  the  acquaintance  deepened  into  friendship.  The 
Japanese  noble  called  upon  the  missionary  every  day,  and 
asked  questions  regarding  Christianity  and  western  science 
and  customs. 

While  at  Arima,  Viscount  Kuki  made  frequent  presents 
to  Mr.  Davis,  among  them  a  huge  crane,  five  feet  in 
height.  The  bird  was  supposed  to  be  a  delicacy,  but  was 
entirely  too  tough  to  be  eaten,  so  the  cook  was  ordered  to 
carefully  dispose  of  it. 

Early  the  next  morning,  a  policeman  appeared  with  the 
long-legged  bird,  stating  that  he  had  taken  it  from  a  coun- 
tryman who  could  not  explain  how  he  had  got  it.  Mr. 
Davis  received  several  congratulations  over  the  recovery  of 
the  Daimio's  gift,  and  he  began  to  fear  lest  he  might  have 
to  eat  it  after  all.  At  nightfall,  he  told  the  cook  to  bury 
the  bird,  this  time  in  the  mountain  behind  the  village. 
While  the  family  were  at  breakfast  the  next  day,  a  wood- 
cutter called  with  the  bedraggled  crane  upon  his  back, 
saying  that  he  had  found  it  covered  with  leaves  in  the 
woods  up  the  road,  and  begged  leave  to  return  the  honor- 
able gift  of  the  Daimio  of  Sanda.  Late  that  night  a 
foreigner  with  a  curiously  shaped  parcel  under  his  arm  and 
a  spade  on  his  shoulder  might  have  been  seen  climbing 
through  the  Arima  hills  to  a  secluded  spot,  and  the  Dai- 
mio's gift  did  not  appear  again. 

During  September,  at  the  request  of  some  young  men  of 
the  town,  the  Davis  family  spent  three  weeks  in  Sanda, 
during  which  period  twenty  curious  young  men  came  three 
times  a  day  to  listen  and  to  ask  questions  about  Chris- 


FIRST  YEARS  IN  JAPAN  123 

tianity  and  science.  "  We  studied  the  Gospel  of  John,  and 
though  I  could  only  speak  in  a  stammering  way,  I  did  my 
best  to  make  the  meaning  clear."  After  returning  to  Kobe 
Mr.  Davis  bought  a  horse  and  for  more  than  a  year  rode 
the  twenty  miles  to  Sanda  each  Saturday  night,  returning 
on  Monday.  Arriving  at  his  customary  hotel  in  Sanda 
one  night  in  a  pouring  rain,  he  was  refused  admittance;  and 
a  refusal  greeting  him  at  each  hotel  in  the  place,  it  was 
evident  that  opposition  had  developed  to  the  "  Jesus  way." 
"  It  began  to  look  as  if  I  should  have  to  return.  I  was 
leading  my  horse  in  the  darkness,  on  a  back  street,  praying 
for  guidance,  and,  finally,  knocked  at  an  unknown  gate. 
It  proved  to  be  a  small  Buddhist  temple.  The  widow  and 
her  son  who  kept  the  place  were  so  poor  that  they  were 
glad  of  the  rent  I  was  willing  to  pay.  I  spent  the  night 
there,  and  there  we  had  our  meetings  for  six  months.  I  had 
the  main  room  of  the  temple,  eating,  sleeping  and  preach- 
ing before  the  images  and  sacred  relics. 

"  The  following  autumn,  Dr.  Berry  rented  a  small  house 
for  a  hospital  and  clinic  in  Sanda,  and  we  had  a  room  in 
that  for  our  meetings.  I  extemporized  a  wood  stove  and 
had  a  comfortable  room  where  the  young  men  came  every 
Saturday  evening  to  see  me.  They  came  again  Sunday 
morning,  afternoon  and  evening,  and  after  the  evening  ser- 
mon they  would  stay  until  late,  talking  together.  In  this 
way  I  learned  a  good  deal  of  the  language,  the  national 
viewpoint,  and  found  many  points  of  contact." 

He  was  enthusiastic  over  the  splendid  medical  work  of 
Dr.  Berry  in  Kobe  and  Sanda,  and  urged  the  appointment 
of  more  medical  missionaries,  as  indispensable  aids  in  open- 
ing the  field.  The  next  Autumn  he  opened  an  English 
school  for  young  men  in  Kobe  and  for  nine  months  taught 
English  and  mathematics,  since  no  direct  Christian  teaching 
was  possible  in  Kobe  at  this  time.  The  students  paid  all 
the  expenses  of  the  school,  which  finally  enrolled  one  hun- 


124  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

dred  young  men.  "  April  15th,  1873,  our  school  has  kept 
up  its  number  to  over  seventy;  ever  since  we  started,  five 
months  ago.  Mr.  Greene  has  a  Bible  service  in  the  school, 
and  we  hope,  soon,  to  have  a  suitable  room  in  connection 
with  our  book-store  where  a  daily  service  can  be  held,  but 
the  opposition  is  too  great  just  at  present."  The  reputa- 
tion of  the  foreign  school  found  its  way  to  Osaka,  where 
an  official  invited  Mr.  Davis  to  open  a  school  at  a  salary 
of  two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  a  month.  This,  of  course, 
he  was  unable  to  do. 

The  Sanda  work  had  a  vital  connection  with  the  begin- 
nings of  Kobe  Women's  College,  for  with  the  arrival  of 
Misses  Dudley  and  Talcott,  in  the  spring  of  1873,  a  girls' 
school  was  opened  in  the  home  of  the  Sanda  Daimio,  who 
had  now  moved  to  Kobe. 

Viscount  Kuki  boldly  identified  himself  with  the  Chris- 
tian movement,  placing  his  own  children  and  relatives  in 
the  care  of  the  American  ladies.  This  was  the  nucleus  of 
the  present  Kobe  College. 

During  the  second  summer  at  Arima,  the  baby's  milk 
supply  necessitated  the  taking  of  a  cow  into  the  mountains 
with  the  Davis  family.  At  the  entrance  to  the  village  the 
cow  and  her  attendant  were  stopped.  When  an  explana- 
tion was  demanded,  he  was  told,  "  No  cows  allowed  in  our 
village  now;  cows  bring  flies;  flies  bring  discomfort;  no 
cows  allowed  in  this  village  now."  The  diary  records  that 
the  cow  was  stabled  in  the  "  suburbs." 

There  was  a  great  need  of  simple  Christian  literature,  for, 
as  yet,  none  of  the  Gospels  had  been  printed  completely 
in  Japanese,  although  the  Gospel  of  John  appeared  during 
that  summer.  There  were  no  available  tracts. 

One  day,  under  the  maples  beside  the  Arima  waterfall, 
Mr.  Davis,  in  broken  Japanese,  wrote  a  simple  story  of  the 
loving  heavenly  Father  who  had  created  man  and  who  sent 
his  Son  to  show  him  his  love  and  to  die  for  him.  His 


FIRST  YEARS  IN  JAPAN  125 

struggles  to  get  this  tract  put  into  the  vernacular  were 
characteristic  of  many  attempts  of  that  early  period,  when, 
as  yet,  no  vocabulary  for  the  expression  of  Christian  truth 
had  been  formulated. 

His  teacher  was  told  to  translate  this  story  into  such 
simple  Japanese  that  anyone  could  read  and  understand  it. 
"When  my  teacher  had  copied  this  into  Japanese,  I  asked 
him  to  revise  it,  using  simpler  forms  of  expression,  but  it 
came  back  in  such  high  Chinese  that  none  of  the  common 
people  could  read  it.  I  then  asked  another  scholar  of  the 
pure  Japanese  language  to  put  it  in  such  form  that  the 
masses  could  read  it  and,  after  another  month,  it  came 
back  about  fifty  degrees  higher  yet.  I  then  took  my  orig- 
inal draft,  sat  down  by  my  teacher  and  fought  it  over  word 
by  word  and  sentence  by  sentence,  demanding  that  the 
words  that  could  be  understood  by  the  greatest  number  of 
common  people  should  be  used,  and,  after  two  months 
more,  it  was  ready  for  the  block  cutter."  This  tract,  the 
"  Chika  Michi,"1  was  the  first  original  tract  prepared  in 
Japan  and  within  ten  years  had  reached  a  circulation  of 
over  one  hundred  thousand  copies. 

The  dearth  of  devotional  music  was  so  great  that  Mr. 
Davis  translated  a  number  of  hymns,  which  were  pub- 
lished in  the  first  hymn-book  used  in  the  Congregational 
churches  of  Japan.  A  few  of  them  have  been  revised  and 
are  still  in  use,  the  best  known  being,  "  Jehoba  wo  home 
yo,"  or,  "  Praise  Jehovah." 

The  missionaries  were  constantly  reminded  that  the  gov- 
ernment restrictions  upon  Christianity  were  not  a  dead 
letter.  As  late  as  February,  1875,  Mr.  Davis  gave  fifty 
copies  of  his  tracts  to  one  of  the  Kobe  Christians,  Mr. 
Imamura  Kenkichi,  to  distribute  among  friends  at  his 
home  in  Kanazawa. 

A  little  later,  the  Governor  of  Ishikawa  Prefecture  made 

1  The  Short  Way  (of  Knowing  the  True  God). 


126  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

a  requisition  upon  the  Governor  of  Hyogo  Prefecture  for  the 
arrest  and  detention  of  Mr.  Imamura,  upon  the  charge  of 
having  distributed  books  of  the  evil  sect  called  Chris- 
tian. After  an  imprisonment  of  many  months  this  fearless 
man  took  charge  of  the  bookstore  and  press  of  the  Ameri- 
can Board  Mission  in  Kobe,  and  later  founded  the  "  Fukuin 
sha  " 1  and  the  "  Keisei  sha,"  1  which  for  twenty-five  years 
as  an  independent  Japanese  company  has  been  publishing 
an  increasing  volume  of  Christian  literature  for  the  empire. 

During  the  winter  of  1873  to  '74,  the  first  Christian 
prayer-meeting  was  held  in  central  Japan.  Five  or  six 
young  men,  together  with  the  wife  of  one  of  the  number, 
whom  Mr.  Greene  had  been  teaching,  became  interested  in 
the  Truth.  "  One  evening  we  met  them  in  Mr.  Greene's 
house  and  they  all  prayed.  It  was  the  first  time  that  we 
had  heard  Japanese  offer  a  Christian  prayer,  and  formed  a 
scene  never  to  be  forgotten."  The  next  spring,  April  19th, 
1874,  a  church  of  eleven  members  was  organized  in  Kobe, 
several  of  the  Osaka  Christians  walking  the  twenty  miles 
from  that  city  to  be  present.  One  month  later,  a  church  of 
seven  members  was  organized  in  Osaka.  These  were  the 
first  churches  of  the  Kumi-ai,  or  Congregational  body,  in 
Japan. 

The  constitution  of  these  churches  was  very  simple. 
They  were  called  "  Churches  of  Christ,"  and  it  was  de- 
cided to  take  the  creed  of  the  Evangelical  Alliance.  Mr. 
Davis  was  asked  to  prepare  the  first  draft  of  the  covenant 
and  rules  of  membership.  Because  of  the  broad  basis  of  the 
new  churches  he  felt  that  assent  to  creed  should  not  be 
made  test  of  membership,  and  so  drew  up  the  questions  for 
the  candidates  for  baptism  and  the  following  church  cove- 
nant, which  was  adopted  by  these  churches  and  which  has 
been,  with  a  few  changes,  incorporated  into  the  covenant  of 
the  Kumi-ai  churches  of  Japan  and  is  still  used :  — 

1  The  Gospel  Company. 


FIRST  YEARS  IN  JAPAN  127 

"  Believing  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  we  desire  to  form 
ourselves  into  a  church,  called  by  His  name,  in  order  that 
we  may  publicly  worship  God,  study  God's  word,  obey 
God's  laws  and  ordinances,  mutually  help  each  other  in 
the  Christian  life,  and  spread  abroad  the  knowledge  of 
salvation  in  our  country  and  in  the  world. 

"  Desiring  to  be  united  in  faith  and  love  with  all  in  the 
world  who  love  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  we  adopt  the  fol- 
lowing as  the  basis  of  our  faith :  —  (here  follows  the  creed 
of  the  Evangelical  Alliance.)" 

Following  the  questions  to  Candidates  for  Baptism,  the 
covenant  reads:  —  "  We  covenant  with  each  other  and  with 
these  new  members,  that  we  will  live  henceforth,  not  for 
ourselves,  but  for  the  Saviour  who  died  for  us;  that  while 
loyal  to  our  country  and  our  government,  we  will  make  it 
our  most  important  business  every  day,  directly  or  indi- 
rectly, to  teach  others  about  this  Saviour,  and  to  lead  them 
to  follow  Him;  that  we  will  not  knowingly  engage  in  any 
business,  or  do  anything  which  will  hinder  our  influence  in 
this  great  work;  that  we  will  keep  the  Sabbath  sacred  to 
the  public  and  private  worship  of  God  and  the  study  and 
teaching  of  his  word.  And  now  praying  that  God  will 
keep  us  all  faithful  unto  death  and  greatly  increase  the 
number  of  believers,  we  give  the  hand  of  welcome  to  the 
new  members  as  a  token  of  our  love  and  fellowship." 

This  covenant  shows  that  from  the  outset  stress  was  laid 
upon  the  responsibility  of  church  members  for  spreading 
the  Gospel.  This  lay  activity  became  a  chief  characteristic 
of  these  first  groups  of  Christians  and  an  effective  source 
of  growth  of  the  Kumi-ai  Church.  When  the  question  of 
organizing  a  church  arose  in  Sanda,  some  of  the  Christians 
considered  it  premature,  for,  as  they  said,  "  We  cannot 
all  yet  preach  well." 

The  membership  of  the  Kobe  Church  doubled  in  the 
first  year.  "  The  church  now  numbers  thirty- two  mem- 


128  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

bers,"  wrote  Mr.  Davis  in  the  spring  of  1875,  "  twenty  men 
and  twelve  women.  Of  these  twenty  men,  thirteen  have, 
from  the  time  they  were  received  into  the  church,  been 
preachers  of  the  word,  not  paid  as  helpers,  by  the  mission, 
but  going  out  to  preach  on  the  Sabbath  and  during  the 
week  at  their  own  charge.  Regular  weekly  preaching  is 
kept  up  by  them  in  five  different  places,  and  monthly, 
in  about  as  many  more.  They  go  on  foot  to  do  this,  or 
have  paid  for  carriage  hire,  or  other  expenses,  out  of  their 
very  limited  means,  refusing  foreign  money." 

Early  in  1873,  an  invitation  came  to  Mr.  Davis  from  the 
five  American  Board  missionaries  in  Osaka,  to  join  them  in 
the  work  in  that  great  industrial  center.  He  felt,  however, 
that  on  account  of  the  steadily  widening  doors  in  Kobe 
and  Sanda,  he  was  not  justified  in  changing  his  field. 
Already,  too,  there  was  maturing  the  conviction  that  the 
training  of  workers  for  leadership  in  the  Japanese  church 
was  the  first  work  toward  which  he  should  direct  his 
energies  and  for  the  development  of  this  plan,  the  nucleus 
of  young  men  that  the  missionaries  in  Kobe  had  gathered 
around  them  offered  excellent  material.  He  now  began  to 
work  more  definitely  upon  this  educational  plan. 

The  Sanda  work  was  steadily  pushed  during  1874.  The 
dispensary  and  hospital  of  Dr.  Berry  had  greatly  increased 
the  hold  of  Christianity  upon  the  town,  and  the  work  for 
women  took  on  considerable  proportions.  In  the  early 
summer  of  1875,  Mr.  Davis  organized  a  church  in  Sanda, 
the  third  of  the  Kumi-ai  group.  Of  the  twenty  men  who 
had  studied  with  him,  more  than  half  became  Christians, 
and  though  most  of  them  eventually  moved  away  from 
Sanda,  they  became  valued  workers  in  other  parts  of  Japan. 

Although  the  edicts  against  Christianity  had  been  re- 
moved in  1872,  it  was  still  very  difficult  to  find  a  place 
where  the  Gospel  could  be  preached.  "  I  went  with  some 
of  the  young  men  of  the  church  to  the  towns  between 


FIRST  YEARS  IN  JAPAN  129 

Kobe  and  Osaka,  Sumiyoshi,  Nishino-miya  and  Kanzaki, 
but  even  the  tea  houses  refused  us  permission  to  use  a  room 
to  speak  to  those  who  came  to  see  us  about  Christ.  Meet- 
ings were,  however,  held  in  private  houses,  where  a  few  of 
the  neighbors  came  in  to  hear." 

The  change  from  the  free,  breezy  life  of  the  Wyoming 
plains  to  the  conventions,  suspicion  and  red  tape  of  his  new 
environment  was  necessitating  severe  adjustments  to  the 
missionary,  adjustments  which  must  either  make  or  mar 
character.  Miss  Eliza  Talcott,  one  of  the  founders  of  Kobe 
College,  who  lived  at  this  time  in  the  Davis  home,  wrote 
of  him:  "Mr.  Davis'  smile  wins  your  heart  at  once.  He 
has  grown  very  much  in  grace  this  last  year;  his  natural 
impatience  and  restless  hurry  have  given  place  to  a  patient 
restfulness,  which  with  all  his  energy  behind  it,  makes  him 
a  tower  of  strength.  I  think  he  realizes  his  power,  too,  in 
a  measure,  but  there  is  not  the  slightest  trace  of  conceit. 
He  says  that  sometimes  his  great  joy  unfits  him  for  the 
work.  The  fact  is,  he  is  exceedingly  enthusiastic  and  lives 
faster  than  anybody  I  know." 

The  birth  of  a  second  daughter,  Genevieve,  and  the 
arrival  of  Mrs.  Davis*  sister,  Mrs.  E.  T.  Doane  of  Micro- 
nesia, necessitated  removal  into  a  large  Japanese  house, 
farther  from  the  foreign  settlement.  "  Robbers  were 
troublesome  through  this  winter.  One  night  I  was  awak- 
ened by  a  noise  in  the  adjoining  room.  Taking  my  pistol, 
I  entered  the  room  and  by  the  bright  moonlight  saw  a  man 
sorting  over  clothing  which  was  scattered  in  every  direction. 
Another  stood  outside  with  a  bundle  under  his  arm.  As  I 
entered,  both  men  sprang  for  the  street  and  I  after  them. 
I  fired  through  the  window  at  the  man  on  the  roof,  who 
seemed  most  likely  to  escape.  He  dropped  his  bundle  and 
both  men  jumped.  I  followed  them,  off  the  roof,  across 
the  garden  and  into  the  street,  firing  as  I  ran,  and  on  my 
return,  picked  up  a  good  deal  of  clothing  which  they  had 


130  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

dropped.  I  didn't  want  to  hit  them,  only  thoroughly 
frighten  them.  We  were  not  visited  by  robbers  again  that 
year."  When  one  of  his  colleagues  protested  against  his 
use  of  firearms  upon  the  Japanese  and  urged  prayer  as  a 
measure  of  defence,  he  replied  that  he  believed  that  prayer, 
backed  up  by  a  good  revolver,  was  very  effective  on  Kobe 
robbers. 

In  this  home  Mrs.  Davis  began  to  conduct  family  wor- 
ship in  Japanese,  reading  the  Gospels  with  the  servants 
and  a  few  neighbors  who  came  in  each  day  to  hear  about 
the  new  faith.  Several  of  these  people  were  afterward  bap- 
tized. One  of  the  senior  pastors,  still  preaching  in  the 
Kumi-ai  Church,  here  found  his  first  interest  in  Chris- 
tianity. 

The  turbulent  political  and  social  atmosphere  of  1872, 
made  the  future  of  missionary  work  in  Japan  extremely 
uncertain.  A  reaction  from  the  first  interest  in  foreign 
affairs  had  set  in.  Assassinations  of  liberal  political  leaders 
were  frequent  and  ruffians  were  hired  to  attack  and  insult 
foreigners.  He  wrote:  "  You  will  conclude  that  we  have  a 
changeful  atmosphere  in  Japan.  It  could  hardly  be  other- 
wise. When  reforms  are  taking  place  among  a  great 
people  changes  come  as  the  ebb  and  flow  of  a  tide,  as 
first  the  radical  and  then  the  conservative  party  gains 
the  upper  hand.  This  is  an  encouraging  sign,  if  only,  in 
the  quick  succession  of  changes,  the  cause  be  gaining 
ground. 

"  There  is  no  question  that  religious  freedom  is  gaining 
ground  here.  We  must  not  mind  the  little  gusts  that 
sweep  hither  and  thither  across  our  quarter  deck,  but 
rather  look  up  at  the  steady  trade  winds  that  fill  our  top- 
sails, all  the  time  set  in  the  same  direction.  Instead  of 
recent  events  modifying  our  last  appeal  for  more  men,  in 
my  view,  they  add  force  to  it.  ...  I  want  to  call  just  as 
loudly  as  I  can,  so  that  very  soon,  when  the  crisis  is  on 


FIRST  YEARS  IN  JAPAN  131 

us  and  we  are  overrun,  swamped  for  want  of  men,  I  can 
feel  that  I  did  my  duty." 

In  September,  1872,  the  first  convention  of  Protestant 
missionaries  in  Japan  was  held  in  Yokohama.  The  sessions 
met  in  the  chapel  of  Dr.  Hepburn's  dispensary,  and  were 
attended  by  nearly  all  the  missionaries  in  the  country. 

This  conference  recommended  the  appointment  of  a  union 
committee  for  Bible  translation  and  adopted  a  plan  which 
should  secure  identity  of  name  and  organization  for  the 
Japanese  church,  "  that  name  being  as  catholic  as  the 
Church  of  Christ  and  the  organization  being  that  wherein 
the  government  of  each  church  shall  be  by  the  ministry 
and  eldership  of  the  same,  with  the  concurrence  of  the 
brethren."  The  name  "  Church  of  Christ  "  was  adopted, 
the  creed  of  the  Evangelical  Alliance  was  taken,  and  it  was 
agreed  to  appoint  and  ordain  a  pastor,  elders  and  deacons 
in  each  church. 

It  was  hoped  by  the  members  of  the  American  Board 
Mission  that  in  this  way  the  churches  of  Japan  would  all 
be  united  in  a  federated  union,  with  a  unanimity  of  name, 
creed  and  officers,  and  that,  while  each  church  or  group 
would  be  free  to  conduct  its  internal  affairs  independently, 
they  would  all  meet,  each  year,  for  conference  and  prayer 
and  for  planning  for  the  evangelization  of  the  empire. 
After  a  few  years,  differences  in  interpretation  of  this  union 
arose;  the  Presbyterian  and  Reformed  Churches  under- 
stood it  to  be  an  organic  union,  giving  the  general  confer- 
ence full  ecclesiastical  power. 

Some  of  the  other  churches,  among  them  those  of  the 
American  Board  Mission,  could  not  approve  a  union  which 
implied  a  central  governing  power,  and  thus  the  first  at- 
tempt at  church  union  in  Japan  failed. 

Mr.  Davis  believed  with  his  colleagues  of  the  committee 
appointed  to  deal  with  the  union  question,  that  a  close 
federation  of  the  principal  churches,  rather  than  an  ecclesi* 


132  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

astical  union,  would  be  best  adapted  to  meet  the  needs 
of  the  highly  organized  political  and  social  atmosphere  of 
Japan.  He  wrote  to  the  committee  representing  the  Pres- 
byterian group:  "  I  consider  that  a  heart  union  exists 
between  your  churches  and  ours,  one  which  may  drop 
denominational  names,  and,  so  far  as  possible,  denomina- 
tional peculiarities,  and  which  includes  the  close  fraterniza- 
tion of  the  churches.  This  would  make  apparent  to  the 
world  what  is  a  fact,  but  what  is  too  often  hid  under  the 
cloak  of  sectarianism,  viz.,  —  the  oneness  of  all  Christians 
in  Christ,  their  Head.  ...  I  deeply  regret  that  the  union 
plan  has  failed,  and  earnestly  hope  that  we  may  have,  at 
least,  a  yearly  meeting  for  prayer,  conference  and  com- 
munion in  which  every  organization  of  Christians  in  the 
empire  may  be  represented. 

Yours  in  the  best  of  bonds," 

Though  the  union  effort  of  1872  miscarried,  it  gave  an 
impetus  to  cooperative  action  in  mission  work  that  has 
largely  influenced  the  Christian  movement  in  Japan. 
Among  its  direct  and  indirect  results  may  be  mentioned 
the  work  of  the  Bible  Translation  Committee,  the  general 
district  conference  held  annually  in  Osaka  for  the  central 
section  of  Japan,  the  triennial  conference  of  all  Japanese 
churches,  the  Council  of  Missions  uniting  the  Presbyterian 
and  Reformed  Churches,  the  union  of  the  Methodist  and 
other  affiliated  groups,  and  the  Council  of  Federated  Mis- 
sions which  has,  of  recent  years,  come  into  a  large  place 
of  service  in  the  Christian  work  of  the  empire. 

Upon  the  promulgation  of  the  Edict  of  Religious  Free- 
dom in  the  spring  of  1873,  Mr.  Davis  wrote  to  Boston: 
"  The  whole  country  is  now  opened  to  the  entrance  of 
foreigners  and  of  Christianity.  To  all  human  appearances, 
unless  we  are  speedily  and  largely  reinforced,  the  golden 
opportunity  for  Japan  will  be  lost.  Now  when  we  need 


FIRST  YEARS  IN  JAPAN  133 

twenty  fully  trained  men,  we  have  only  five  on  the  ground 
and  most  of  us  only  beginners.  God  will  take  care  of  his 
work,  but  if  we  fail  to  call  for  men  we  fail  to  do  our  duty.*' 

In  May,  1873,  another  visit  to  Kyoto  and  the  neighbor- 
ing Lake  Biwa  basin  renewed  his  conviction  of  the  neces- 
sity of  manning  the  interior.  "  I  am  deeply  impressed 
with  the  populousness  of  this  Lake  Biwa  basin,  where  you 
may  count  several  hundred  villages  nestled  among  the  river 
valleys  watering  the  lake,  and  with  the  kindly  disposition 
of  the  people  toward  us  and  the  universal  desire  to  have 
the  country  opened  to  the  world.  As  I  saw  this  surging 
population  and  wandered  all  one  afternoon  among  the 
beautiful  temples  east  of  Kyoto,  and  found  the  paths  lead- 
ing to  them  grass-grown,  and  the  buildings  almost  de- 
serted, I  could  not  keep  from  praying  for  the  men  to  go 
up  and  possess  this  land." 

He  now  began  to  write  to  the  American  Board  and  to 
the  church  papers,  in  vehement  tones,  emphasizing  the 
unprecedented  opportunity  facing  the  Christian  church  in 
Japan.  The  closeness  of  the  nations  seemed  to  him  a 
direct  challenge  to  a  new  conception  of  responsibility  on 
the  part  of  the  more  favored  peoples:  the  jealousy  of 
American  Christians  for  the  development  of  the  home  field, 
a  pretence  which  could  not  bear  the  light  of  the  facts.  The 
accessibility  of  the  dense  population  around  Osaka  and 
Kyoto;  the  eagerness  of  the  people  to  hear  of  Christianity; 
the  fact  that  the  country  would  now  be  open  to  foreign 
residence,  with  the  ban  removed  from  the  foreign  religion, 
the  handful  of  missionaries  on  the  field  and  the  immense 
disparity  in  the  number  of  workers  in  America  and  Japan, 
were  realities  which  rested  upon  his  heart  night  and  day 
and  gave  him  no  peace.  "The  'cannot'  which  we  hear 
from  some  in  the  United  States  is  simply  a  tremendous 
*  will  not/  for  which  God  holds  us  responsible.  If  we  wait 
until  America  is  regenerated  before  we  work  for  Africa  and 


134  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

Asia  we  will  wait  forever,  since  the  millennium  will  not 
come  to  one  nation  alone.  God  is  bringing  the  nations  all 
together;  they  stand  side  by  side;  the  man  who  works  for 
Japan  or  China  or  Africa  today,  works  for  America;  works 
for  the  world." 

From  Arima,  in  the  summer  of  1874,  he  wrote:  "The 
work  is  opening  on  all  sides  and  pressing  upon  us.  I  have 
my  family  here  in  the  mountains  again,  but  cannot  run 
away  from  work.  I  preach  at  Kobe  or  Sanda  every  Sab- 
bath, and  have  a  service  at  my  house  here  every  day. 
People  are  here  from  a  hundred  miles  around  for  the  baths, 
which  provides  a  grand  chance  for  scattering  the  truth." 

In  the  autumn  of  1874,  Mr.  Davis  opened  the  training 
class  for  Christian  workers  which  he  had  borne  constantly 
upon  his  mind  during  the  preceding  year.  A  few  of  the 
students  were  from  among  the  men  he  had  taught  in  Sanda; 
more  were  from  the  Kobe  church,  some  of  whom  he  de- 
scribed as  "  sure  to  make  grand  workers,"  while  a  little 
later  several  young  men  from  Osaka  entered  the  class. 
Dec.  23rd,  "  These  twelve  men  are  the  nucleus  of  a  small 
training  school  which  it  has  been  my  blessed  privilege  to 
start.  The  students  are  very  regular  in  attendance.  We 
have  finished  reading  Acts  and  are  now  half  way  through 
Romans.  I  also  give  them  lectures  on  the  History  of 
Christianity  and  in  Theology,  and  Mr.  Gulick  has  a  class 
in  Moral  Science." 

From  the  outset  of  this  little  school  Mr.  Davis  felt 
the  difficulty  of  meeting  the  needs  of  the  situation  or  the 
desires  of  the  students  for  thorough  preparation.  The 
brighter  men  were  not  satisfied  with  the  mission  school  as 
a  preparation  for  the  Christian  ministry  and  showed  their 
unrest  by  making  plans  for  going  to  America.  To  hold  stu- 
dents in  a  school  with  no  equipment  and  a  staff  of  three 
missionaries  was  a  serious  problem.  Furthermore,  to  stu- 
dents unable  to  go  abroad  the  rising  educational  standards 


FIRST  YEARS  IN  JAPAN  135 

of  the  government  colleges  presented  attractions  with  which 
an  unsubsidized  mission  school  could  not  compete.  "Un- 
less we  can  start  a  thorough  school  at  once,  we  lose  to  our 
work  most  of  the  Christian  young  men  around  us  and  our 
hands  are  tied.  More  than  this,  our  whole  mission  sees 
that  we  must  have  a  Christian  college  if  we  would  train 
up  a  ministry  that  can  successfully  grapple  with  the  mate- 
rialism of  the  government  institutions.  It  is  our  only  hope 
and  we  may  as  well  face  it  from  the  outset." 

Efforts  toward  the  solution  of  this  problem,  concurring 
with  the  return  of  Mr.  Neesima  to  Japan,  led  directly  to 
the  founding  of  the  Doshisha. 

The  plan  for  a  full  collegiate  department  in  connection 
with  the  training  school  did  not  meet  with  approval  in 
Boston.  Some  of  the  Prudential  Committee  considered  a 
secular  course  outside  of  the  province  of  real  missionary 
activity,  and  others  feared  that  even  though  desirable,  such 
a  college  would  draw  into  its  faculty  too  many  of  the 
missionaries.  It  was  further  urged  that  the  rapidly  growing 
system  of  government  education  should  provide  for  the  sec- 
ular training  of  the  students  and  that  the  course  of  the 
training  school  was  sufficient  to  prepare  men  for  the  minis- 
try in  Japan.  Mr.  Davis  felt  deeply  upon  the  necessity 
of  full  college  training  for  the  young  men  who  were  to  be 
the  first  representatives  of  Christianity  to  their  country- 
men. "  Our  aim  here  is  to  have  all  of  our  ministers  and 
ordained  clergy,  bishops,  in  the  highest  sense  of  the  word, 
to  oversee  and  counsel  the  busy  lives  of  workers.  It  is 
this  conception  of  the  ministry  which  makes  me  feel  that  a 
Christian  College  in  connection  with  our  work  is  an  early 
necessity. 

"It  would  be  as  unwise  to  ordain  a  man  here  without 
knowledge  of  science  as  it  would  be  to  ordain  a  backwoods- 
man in  America." 

In  the  spring  of  1875,  he  was  asked   to  give  a  paper  on 


136  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

the  "  Training  of  the  Native  Ministry"  at  the  annual 
mission  meeting.  The  following  points,  which  formed  the 
basis  of  his  policy  through  the  years  of  constructive  work 
in  the  Doshisha,  were  emphasized: 

"  1.  Get  the  young  men.  To  do  this  we  must  have  a 
school  which  will  attract  and  hold  them. 

2.  There  must  be  some  plan  by  which   such   students 
can  support  themselves  while  in  school. 

3.  They  must  have  an  expectation  of  support  after  they 
enter  the  ministry. 

4.  We  must  all  be  filled  with  and  taught  by  the  Holy 
Spirit,  if    we  would  lead  these  young  men  to  a  full    conse- 
cration of  themselves  to  this  work  and  to  success  in  it." 

Following  up  the  outline  of  policy  contained  in  this 
paper,  he  wrote  to  Boston  a  clear  statement  of  the  condi- 
tion of  their  students,  showing  that  the  majority  were  of 
the  Samurai  class,  which  had  lately  been  dispossessed  of  its 
feudal  rights  and  sources  of  income  and  had  never  been 
trained  to  work.  Upon  this  basis  he  asked  the  Board  for 
an  appropriation  of  $200.00  to  enable  special  work  to  be 
given  to  needy  students.  He  spoke  of  the  great  demands 
upon  the  pockets  of  the  missionaries  and  of  the  way  many 
were  giving  more  than  their  tithe  to  save  critical  situations 
which  arose,  and  closed  his  letter  with  the  words,  "  But 
whether  tithes  will  found  a  school  or  not,  I  do  not  know." 


CHAPTER  XI 
THE  FOUNDING  OF  THE   DOSHISHA 

UNLIKE  the  history  of  some  other  similar  institutions, 
the  birth  of  the  Doshisha  may  be  traced  to  several  dis- 
tinct sources.  Widely  differing  in  origin,  these  lines  of 
influence  were  brought  into  cooperative  activity  through  a  re- 
markable chain  of  circumstances,  a  story  that  can  scarcely  be 
paralleled  in  the  annals  of  Christian  education.  The  grow- 
ing conviction  of  a  group  of  American  missionaries  in  Kobe 
that  a  training  school  for  the  equipment  of  their  Japanese 
co-workers  should  be  established  was  one  of  these  converg- 
ing influences.  A  more  romantic  and  dynamic  source  of 
this  great  school  may  be  found  in  the  spiritual  vision  and 
dauntless  determination  of  a  Japanese  boy  to  know  the 
truth  and  to  follow  it  wherever  it  might  lead. 

When  the  fleet  of  Commodore  Perry  steamed  into  Yedo 
Bay,  in  1853,  a  seed  was  sown  in  the  heart  of  a  ten-year- 
old  lad  that  was  to  bear,  when  full  grown,  the  greatest 
Christian  university  in  the  Far  East.  Neesima  was  the 
son  of  a  retainer  of  Prince  Itakura,  a  daimio  of  the  Prov- 
ince of  Kosuke,  near  Tokyo.  Living  in  Tokyo,  at  the 
court  of  his  lord,  he  had  seen  the  black,  foreign  war-ships 
and  developed  a  longing  to  learn  the  language  and  customs 
of  the  new  civilization  that  had  impinged  upon  his  native 
shores.  At  fifteen,  in  a  Chinese  history,  written  by  an 
American  missionary  he  read,  "In  the  beginning  God 
created  the  heaven  and  the  earth."  This  statement  an- 
swered for  him  an  unsolved  mystery.  He  reasoned,  "If  God 
made  the  earth,  he  made  me.  If  he  made  me,  then  I  must 
be  thankful  to  him:  I  must  believe  in  him  and  I  must  be 
upright  against  him."  He  prayed,  "  O  if  you  have  eyes, 

137 


138  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

look  upon  me,  if  you  have  ears,  listen  to  me."  With  an 
intense  desire  to  know  more  about  God,  he  prayed  to  him 
daily  for  six  years  before  the  opportunity  came.  Since 
the  author  of  the  book  in  which  he  had  read  of  God  was 
an  American,  he  reasoned  that  if  he  could  get  away  to 
America  he  could  learn  about  the  new  religion  and  civiliza- 
tion which  he  felt  that  his  country  needed.  With  this 
ambition  to  reach  America  strong  within  him,  he  faced 
the  question  of  ways  and  means.  Parents  and  feudal  lord 
refused  the  boy's  request  to  go  to  Hakodate,  the  northern 
port  where  he  hoped  to  come  into  contact  with  foreign 
influences.  Moreover,  for  three  hundred  years  there  had 
been  a  death  penalty  fixed  for  the  crime  of  leaving  the 
country;  but  death  had  few  terrors  for  Neesima:  he  was 
in  quest  of  life,  and  with  the  daily  prayer,  "  O  God,  please 
help  me  to  reach  my  great  aim,"  upon  his  lips,  he  resolved 
to  place  himself  in  exile. 

On  a  black  night  in  July,  1864,  the  American  schooner 
"  Berlin "  was  weighing  anchor  in  Hakodate  harbor  for 
Shanghai.  Presently  a  sampan  came  alongside;  a  slight 
figure  leaped  up  the  chains  and  disappeared  in  the  vessel's 
hold;  government  officials  boarded  the  ship,  an  inspection 
followed,  clearance  papers  were  given,  and  with  a  freshen- 
ing breeze  upon  her  quarter,  the  "  Berlin "  slipped  her 
mooring  and  stood  out  for  the  open  sea  and  the  far-off 
China  port.  The  Japanese  harbor  master  registered  a 
"  foreign  devil  ship  "  cleared  for  the  China  coast,  nor  did 
he  nor  any  soul  in  all  the  land  dream  that  in  the  dirty 
hold  of  a  foreign  ship  there  left  Japan  that  night  one 
who  would  set  the  standards  of  Christian  education  for 
the  empire. 

From  Shanghai,  young  Neesima  worked  his  way,  for  a 
year,  on  the  American  clipper  ship,  "  Wild  Rover,"  to 
Boston.  Here  he  was  found  by  Mr.  Alpheus  Hardy,  the 
owner  of  the  vessel,  who  took  him  into  his  own  home  and 


J.    H.   NEESIMA 


THE  FOUNDING  OF  THE  DOSHISHA          139 

gave  him  every  educational  advantage  that  New  England 
could  afford.  From  Andover  Academy  he  passed  to  Am- 
herst  College,  and  was  in  the  midst  of  his  course  at  An- 
dover Theological  Seminary  when  the  Iwakura  Diplomatic 
Embassy  was  sent  by  Japan  to  America  and  Europe  to 
study  western  civilization.  Hearing  of  Neesima,  Prince 
Iwakura  sent  him  a  summary  command  to  act  as  interpre- 
ter for  the  embassy.  Neesima,  the  outlaw  from  his  country, 
promised  his  services  in  return  for  exemption  from  punish- 
ment, for  religious  freedom  and  for  the  privilege  of  observ- 
ing the  Sabbath,  and  for  over  a  year  he  travelled  with  the 
Embassy  on  terms  of  close  intimacy  through  most  of  the 
capitals  of  Europe. 

This  experience  not  only  won  for  the  Japanese  student 
the  esteem  and  confidence  of  the  great  men  (among  them 
Kido,  Okubo,  I  to  and  Tanaka)  who  were  to  return  to  head 
departments  of  the  new  government  of  Japan,  but  it  en- 
abled him  to  make  a  detailed  study  of  the  finest  educa- 
tional systems  of  the  world.  Never  was  the  divine  Hand 
more  clearly  seen  in  shaping  the  course  of  a  life.  For  with- 
out the  confidence  of  these  powerful  leaders  and  the  broad 
view  of  education  which  Neesima  secured  in  journeying 
with  them,  the  Doshisha,  as  a  Japanese  school,  the  product 
of  Japanese  faith  and  enterprise,  would  not  have  been  born. 
Neesima  prepared  a  paper  which  was  taken  as  the  report  of 
the  Embassy  upon  education,  and  which  afterward,  in  a 
modified  form,  became  the  basis  of  the  system  of  education 
adopted  by  the  empire. 

Though  strongly  pressed  by  Prince  Iwakura  to  return 
to  Japan,  with  the  assurance  of  high  political  preferment, 
Neesima  resolutely  declined  and  returned,  in  1873,  to  An- 
dover Seminary,  where  he  was  graduated  the  following 
year. 

He  passed  a  most  satisfactory  examination  and  was  or- 
dained as  an  evangelist,  the  first  of  his  race  to  receive  this 


140  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

office.  He  was  also  appointed  a  corresponding  member  of  the 
Japan  mission  of  the  American  Board  of  Commissioners 
for  Foreign  Missions. 

Neesima  was  now  ready  to  return  to  Japan,  but  for  one 
great  unfulfilled  purpose.  With  all  that  he  had  received  of 
the  blessings  of  Christian  education  and  influence,  there 
had  grown  the  longing  to  create  in  his  own  land  for  his 
countrymen,  the  opportunities  that  he  had  himself  enjoyed. 
And  thus  he  was  led  to  make  that  famous  appeal  for  a 
Christian  college  in  Japan,  upon  the  platform  of  the  Amer- 
ican Board  meeting  at  Rutland,  Vt.,  in  October,  1874. 

The  occasion  is  a  memorable  one  in  the  annals  of  the 
Board,  the  large  Christian  audience;  the  intense  earnest- 
ness of  the  young  Japanese,  pleading  with  broken  voice 
and  overflowing  eyes  the  need  of  his  people  for  Christian 
education,  and  the  evident  nervousness  of  the  Board  secre- 
taries as  the  speaker  finally  exclaimed,  "  I  cannot  go  back 
to  Japan  without  the  money  to  found  a  Christian  college, 
and  I  am  going  to  stand  here  until  I  get  it."  He  had 
barely  finished  when  Governor  Page,  of  Vermont,  sprang 
to  his  feet  and  pledged  a  thousand  dollars,  Alpheus  Hardy, 
William  E.  Dodge  and  others  pledged  five  hundred  dollars 
each,  and  in  a  few  minutes  nearly  five  thousand  dollars 
was  raised. 

Mr.  Neesima  reached  Japan  in  December,  1874,  a  few 
weeks  after  the  arrival  of  Secretary  N.  G.  Clark's  letter, 
announcing  to  the  mission  the  gift  for  a  training  school. 
Earlier  in  the  year  the  mission  had  sent  an  earnest  invita- 
tion to  Mr.  Neesima  to  join  its  ranks,  and  now  his  return 
with  $5,000  for  a  school  seemed  a  miracle  to  those  in  the 
little  circle  who  had  been  praying  for  some  such  result. 
God's  hand  was  moving  faster  than  the  faith  of  his  workers. 

Osaka,  with  its  large  population  and  central  position, 
was  a  natural  site  for  the  new  school.  Mr.  Neesima  tried 
for  several  months  to  secure  permission  from  the  governor 


THE  FOUNDING  OF  THE  DOSHISHA         141 

to  establish  a  college  in  that  city.  The  governor  told  him 
that  he  approved  of  such  a  school  in  Osaka,  but  that  no 
missionary  should  teach  in  it.  Kobe,  at  this  time  a  small 
trading  port,  offered  few  advantages  as  an  educational 
center.  With  Kobe  and  Osaka  out  of  the  question,  Kyoto 
seemed  to  be  the  only  alternative,  but  it  was  preposterous 
to  think  of  a  Christian  college  in  connection  with  Kyoto, 
for  it  was  an  interior  city  where  no  foreigner  was  allowed 
to  reside.  For  a  thousand  years  Kyoto  had  been  the 
sacred  center  of  Buddhism,  the  home  of  Japanese  religion, 
art  and  culture.  For  an  equal  period  it  had  boasted  the 
imperial  residence,  the  holy  of  holies,  to  which  the  heart  of 
every  Japanese  had  instinctively  turned.  Moreover,  the 
old  capital  was  away  from  the  centers  of  work  which  the 
American  Board  Mission  had  opened,  and  as  an  interior 
city  foreigners  could  have  no  property  or  residence  rights 
there. 

The  mission,  at  length,  consented  to  the  location  of  the 
school  in  Kyoto,  if  permission  could  be  secured,  and  in 
the  summer  of  1875,  Mr.  Neesima  went  up  to  Kyoto  to  see 
if  the  impossible  could  be  accomplished.  But  God  had 
already  been  working  mightily  in  Kyoto,  preparing  the  way 
for  the  youth  who  had  staked  all  on  the  chance  of  finding 
him,  and  preparing  the  way  for  the  doubting  mission. 
Kyoto  had  been  opened  for  one  hundred  days  during  each 
of  the  two  preceding  summers  for  an  exhibition  of  the 
city's  products  and  wares.  Members  of  the  mission,  visit- 
ing the  exhibition,  had  met  Mr.  Yamamoto  Kakuma,  a 
blind  counsellor  of  the  Kyoto  Fu,1  and  had  interested  him 
in  Christian  truth,  and  now  when  Mr.  Neesima  presented 
his  plan  for  the  establishment  of  a  Christian  school  in 
Kyoto,  this  influential  man  gave  it  his  warm  approval.  He 
went  further  and  interested  the  governor  of  the  city  in  the 

i "  Fu,"  a  designation    for  the  largest  municipal    government  in  Japan,  embracing 
jurisdiction  over  surrounding  country  districts. 


142  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

plan.  Governor  Makimura,  however,  expressed  doubts  as 
to  the  possibility  of  securing  imperial  sanction  for  the 
school. 

In  June,  Mr.  Davis  went  to  Kyoto  with  Mr.  Neesima 
and  examined  a  site  situated  in  the  northern  part  of  the 
city,  near  the  palace  grounds,  with  a  large  temple  grove 
adjoining.  The  land,  formerly  the  property  of  the  daimio 
of  Satsuma,  now  belonged  to  Mr.  Yamamoto,  the  city 
counsellor.  "  June  10th,  1875,  I  am  just  back  from  a 
hurried  visit  to  Kyoto.  .  .  .  The  blind  counsellor,  whose 
friendship  Mr.  Gulick  gained  three  years  ago,  and  to  whom 
Dr.  Gordon  gave  a  copy  of  Martyn's  '  Evidence  of  Christian- 
ity,' and  with  whom  Mr.  Neesima  had  labored  faithfully, 
sees  the  light.  He  can  hardly  rest  day  or  night.  He  has 
had  the  New  Testament,  in  Chinese,  read  through  to  him 
twice.  The  vice-governor  is  nearly  as  much  interested 
as  Yamamoto  san,  who,  by  the  way,  is  the  brains  of  the 
city  government.  They  want  a  Christian  school  there,  at 
once.  Mr.  Yamamoto  owns  five  acres  of  land,  which  he 
will  sell  to  the  school  for  the  nominal  price  of  $550.  God 
seems  to  be  opening  the  way  wonderfully  in  this  spiritual 
center  of  the  empire.  I  hope  to  go  there  next  September 
to  begin  work  with  Mr.  Neesima." 

Since  no  foreign  company  could  hold  property  in  Kyoto, 
a  Japanese  corporation,  whose  charter  members  were 
Messrs.  Neesima  and  Yamamoto,  was  organized  for  owning 
and  controlling  the  school.  The  name  "  Doshisha,"  or 
"  One  purpose  Company,"  was  taken  as  the  title  of  the 
corporation  and  Mr.  Davis  was  engaged  as  the  first  foreign 
teacher.  While  the  terms  of  incorporation  provided  that 
the  power  of  making  regulations  and  the  control  of  the 
school  should  be  vested  in  the  hands  of  the  corporation, 
it  was  stated  that  Mr.  Davis  should  act  as  adviser  to  the 
corporation  and  that  his  judgment  should  be  consulted  in 
the  management  and  affairs  of  the  school. 


THE  FOUNDING  OF  THE  DOSHISHA          143 

Although  the  approval  of  the  local  government  for  the 
location  of  the  school  in  Kyoto  had  been  received,  the 
sanction  of  the  central  government  was  necessary.  Messrs. 
Neesima  and  Davis  drew  up  a  formal  petition  for  the  loca- 
tion of  the  school  and  a  foreign  teacher  in  Kyoto,  to  be 
presented  to  the  Tokyo  authorities.  The  Governor  of 
Kyoto  urged  Mr.  Neesima  to  go  at  once  to  the  capital  and 
use  every  possible  pressure  in  favor  of  the  petition,  without 
which  it  was  certain  to  be  ignored.  Mr.  Neesima  left  the 
governor's  palace,  hired  two  swift  runners,  and  by  travelling 
night  and  day,  with  frequent  changes,  covered  the  three 
hundred  and  twenty  miles  to  Tokyo  in  advance  of  the 
petition.  Again  the  divine  Factor  enters  the  story.  Vis- 
count Tanaka,  now  the  Minister  of  Education  for  the 
empire,  had  been  Mr.  Neesima's  most  intimate  friend  in 
the  Japanese  Embassy  in  Europe.  He  told  him,  at  first, 
that  it  would  be  impossible  to  grant  permission  for  a 
Christian  school  in  Kyoto;  it  was  regarded  as  the  sacred 
city  of  the  empire  and  he  foresaw  great  opposition  and 
prejudice  on  the  part  of  the  people.  During  three  days 
Mr.  Neesima,  undaunted,  had  repeated  conferences  with 
the  Minister  of  Education,  as  well  as  with  other  members 
of  the  Cabinet,  to  most  of  whom  he  was  personally  well 
known,  with  the  result  that  Viscount  Tamaka  finally  told 
him  that  if  he  would  be  very  careful  not  to  arouse  the 
opposition  of  the  people  he  would  allow  the  opening  of  the 
school.  The  permission  for  the  residence  of  a  missionary 
was  delayed  several  months,  a  period  of  great  strain  and 
anxiety  for  all  who  were  interested  in  the  school,  for  this 
was  the  technicality  upon  which  its  opponents  relied  to 
block  the  whole  plan. 

During  the  summer,  Viscount  Tamaka,  Minister  of  Edu- 
cation, visited  Mr.  Neesima  in  Kyoto,  to  press  the  claims 
of  his  country's  service  upon  him.  For  three  days  and  two 
nights  the  two  friends  sat  in  the  humble  Kyoto  cottage, 


144  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

the  imperial  representative  urging  the  need  of  the  nation 
for  Mr.  Neesima's  abilities;  the  young  Christian  resolutely 
holding  to  his  life  ideal  of  Christian  education.  Cleverly 
did  the  great  official  argue  the  signal  opportunity  for  prop- 
agating Christian  ideals  which  high  government  office 
could  bring.  For  three  days  Neesima's  simple  reply  was:  — 
11  My  life  is  not  my  own;  it  belongs  to  Jesus  Christ.  Many 
years  ago  I  solemnly  swore  to  devote  my  entire  time  and 
effort  to  His  cause.  I  cannot  take  back  my  words  and  my 
heart.  I  cannot  do  it."  "  As  twilight  was  purpling  on 
the  historic  hills  of  Kyoto,  fragrant  with  the  memory  of 
a  thousand  years  of  culture,  Viscount  Tanaka  rose.  He 
had  reached  the  end  of  his  patience.  He  was  a  simple- 
hearted  man,  a  patriot,  who  could  not  understand  the  lan- 
guage of  the  man  of  religion.  Without  the  slightest  hesita- 
tion he  would  have  sacrificed  all  the  Buddhas  in  the  world, 
if  they  could  add  even  a  trifle  to  the  power  of  the  state. 
He  was  disgusted  with  the  attitude  of  Neesima.  "  Well, 
Neesima,"  he  said,  "  I  am  going.  I  am  sorry.  You  are 
indeed  the  slave  of  Jesus  Christ.  Good  bye." 

From  the  very  first,  Mr.  Neesima  had  received  from  Mr. 
Davis  the  most  sympathetic  support  and  intimate  counsel 
in  all  matters  relating  to  the  opening  of  a  collegiate  insti- 
tute. The  problems  of  his  training  class  in  Kobe  had  led 
him  to  champion  unreservedly  any  plan  that  looked  toward 
improved  training  facilities  for  Christian  workers,  and  now 
when  the  time  came  to  allocate  a  foreign  teacher  in  the 
new  school,  Mr.  Davis  was  the  choice  of  the  mission.  On 
the  19th  of  October,  1875,  in  company  with  his  family,  he 
entered  Kyoto  and  settled  in  a  wing  of  the  old  Yanagiwara 
"  yashiki,"  l  on  the  east  side  of  the  Palace.  This  dilapi- 
dated official  residence  of  an  imperial  retainer,  boasting 
one  hundred  rooms  and  three  hundred  and  fifty  doors  and 

1 "  Yashiki,"   a  large  residence  or  palace  of  an  important   retainer,    in    this  case 
himself  a  Daimio. 


THE  FOUNDING  OF  THE  DOSHISHA         145 

windows,  was  set  apart  for  his  use.  "  Nov.  3rd.  Events 
have  crowded  out  all  time  for  writing  since  our  arrival. 
The  old  house,  a  part  of  which  we  occupy,  has  not  been 
opened  since  the  Mikado  moved  to  Tokyo,  eight  years  ago, 
and  the  mats  were  so  worm-eaten  that  many  of  them  fell 
to  pieces  when  lifted  up.  The  floors,  sills  and  supports 
were  rotten  in  many  places  and  had  to  be  renewed.  By 
dint  of  the  hardest  kind  of  work  and  pushing  carpenters, 
coolies  and  blacksmiths,  who  knew  nothing  of  the  way 
foreigners  want  things,  we  got  the  bed-room,  sitting  room 
dining  room  and  pantry  partially  inhabitable  last  Saturday 
night,  and  stoves  (made  from  an  old  steam-boat  funnel 
cut  into  sections)  put  up  in  the  bedroom,  sitting  room  and 
kitchen.  This  involved  the  putting  up  of  over  one  hundred 
feet  of  stove  piping.  As  our  little  boy  was  born  Monday 
morning,  it  proved  that  we  were  thus  far  settled  none  too 
soon.  During  this  transition  period,  the  children  took 
heavy  colds.  If  I  had  to  fix  over  an  old  Japanese  house 
every  year  of  my  life  I  would  try  to  be  patient,  but  I 
would  pray  that  the  days  might  be  shortened,  although 
such  a  prayer  would  probably  not  be  necessary. 

"  Nov.  18th.  We  have  in  the  house  on  Teramachi, l 
which  we  have  rented  for  the  school,  sixteen  well-lighted 
rooms,  nearly  all  matted,  for  fourteen  dollars  a  month. 
We  are  to  have  our  house  for  six  dollars  a  month,  though 
no  written  agreement  is  made.  I  have  urged  it  again  and 
again,  but  things  move  slowly  here.  Our  grounds  around 
the  house  and  the  quiet  of  the  place  are  all  that  could  be 
desired.  I  have  learned  that  the  Shinto  and  Buddhist 
priests  in  the  city  sent  a  petition  to  the  Department  of 
Religion  in  Yedo,  soon  after  we  came  up  here,  to  have  this 
heresy  stopped.  Nearly  fifty  people  came  in  the  rain  yes- 
terday to  hear  the  truth." 

When  it  became  known  through  the  city  that  a  charter 

1 "  Teramachi,"  or  temple  street,  bounding  the  Imperial  park  on  the  east. 


146  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

for  a  Christian  school  had  been  granted  and  that  a  Chris- 
tian missionary  was  to  live  in  Kyoto,  the  twelve  thousand 
Buddhist  and  Shinto  priests  held  mass  meetings  and  made 
such  a  commotion  as  the  old  city  had  not  seen  for  many 
years.  The  Hongwanji l  priest  paid  almost  daily  visits  to 
the  governor,  loaded  with  costly  presents,  and  presented 
petition  after  petition  that  the  hateful  movement  be 
stamped  out  at  its  beginning.  The  foreign  teachers  in  the 
city  schools  did  their  best  to  prejudice  the  governor  against 
the  new  enterprise.  A  school  to  oppose  the  teachings  of 
the  Doshisha  was  organized  by  the  Buddhists  and  foreign- 
ers were  engaged  to  teach.  A  Dutch  physician,  employed 
in  the  city  hospital,  expressed  it  as  his  opinion,  that 
Neesima  and  Davis  might  as  well  try  to  throw  Mt.  Hiei 
into  Lake  Biwa  as  to  attempt  to  start  a  Christian  school 
in  Kyoto. 

The  organized  pressure  that  was  brought  to  bear  upon 
Governor  Makimura  now  began  to  show  in  various  ways; 
His  daily  visits  to  the  home  of  his  blind  counsellor  ceased. 
Mr.  Yamamoto's  sister,  a  leading  teacher  in  the  Girls' 
School  of  the  city,  who  had  been  for  some  time  very 
friendly  with  the  missionaries,  was  discharged,  and,  finally, 
on  November  19th,  the  owner  of  the  house  which  had  been 
rented  for  the  Doshisha  sent  word  that  he  would  have  to 
break  his  contract,  although  advance  rent  had  been  paid 
and  possession  had  been  taken  of  the  building.  The  situa- 
tion looked  very  black.  Nov.  19th,  in  Mr.  Davis' 
diary,  we  find: — "What  the  result  of  all  this  is  to  be, 
God  only  knows,  The  acorn  is  in  the  bottle,  however, 
and  it  will,  in  time,  with  God's  blessing,  split  the  bottle. 
...  It  is  a  great  consolation  to  be  able  to  leave  it  all  to 
Him  whose  work  it  is.  Yesterday  we  had  thirteen  in  the 
morning  and  twelve  in  the  evening.  Three  Buddhist  priests 

1 "  Hongwanji,"  one  of  the  largest  and   most   powerful   Buddhist  sects,  with  head- 
quarters in  Kyoto. 


THE  FOUNDING  OF  THE  DOSHISHA          147 

came  to  our  morning  service,  one  of  them  much  inter- 
ested." 

His  ability  to  see  and  to  enjoy  the  humorous  side  of  the 
kaleidescopic  events  of  his  rapidly  changing  environment 
was  a  safety  valve  which  he  frequently  indulged  and  which 
helped  to  balance  the  strain  of  his  position.  "  I  went 
down  last  Monday  to  see  the  things  which  are  to  be  sent 
from  Kyoto  to  the  Centennial  in  Philadelphia,  but  found 
the  buildings  filled  with  a  hundred  or  more  city  officials, 
dressed  in  ill-fitting  black  broadcloth  suits,  with  swallow- 
tail coats,  reaching  nearly  to  their  heels,  and  many  of  them 
with  silk  plug  hats  coming  down  over  their  ears,  their 
clothes  in  wrinkles,  with  white  shirts  and  white  cravats; 
altogether  the  most  comical  sight  I  have  ever  seen  in 
Japan." 

Those  were  anxious  days,  filled  with  consultation  and 
planning  with  Messrs.  Neesima  and  Yamamoto,  and  with 
preparations  for  the  opening  of  the  school.  Although  from 
the  first  Sabbath  in  Kyoto  he  had  started  a  preaching 
service  in  his  home,  there  was  little  time  or  strength  left 
for  evangelistic  work,  and  now  even  when  the  whole  issue 
of  the  school  seemed  in  the  balance,  he  felt  that  he  was 
not  fully  meeting  the  opportunities  about  him.  "  I  have, 
perhaps,  come  short  of  my  duty,  because  I  have  been  so 
busy;  not  opening  my  head  about  the  'Way/  only  to 
those  who  come  Sabbath  morning,  and  giving  away  the 
first  tract  yesterday,  after  being  here  a  month." 

Mr.  Neesima  made  repeated  applications  to  Tokyo  for 
Dr.  Wallace  Taylor  and  Rev.  D.  L.  Learned  to  reside  in 
Kyoto,  and  for  five  months  was  greatly  tried  by  the  vexa- 
tious delays  that  were  plainly  the  work  of  the  vacillating 
governor.  "  Nov.  22nd,  Mr.  Neesima  has  been  to 
see  the  governor  several  times  during  the  last  week,  but 
always  found  him  '  not  at  home.'  Friday  evening  he  called 
again  and  was  told  that  he  was  too  busy  to  see  him;  he 


148  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

went  early  Saturday  morning  and  was  told  that  it  was  too 
early;  he  went  a  little  later  and  was  told  that  the  governor 
was  about  to  start  for  his  office;  he  inquired  if  he  could  see 
him  in  the  evening  and  was  told  that  he  could  not  promise; 
finally,  he  went  home  and  yesterday  received  a  notice  to 
appear  at  the  castle  this  morning  and  explain  what  is 
meant  by  '  Bible,'  in  the  list  of  studies  in  the  curriculum." 

As  a  result  of  the  Buddhist  petition  to  Yedo,  Mr.  Nee- 
sima  was  told  that  the  government  was  afraid  of  an  up- 
rising in  Kyoto  headed  by  the  Satsuma  men,1  and  that 
because  of  this  and  of  the  strong  Buddhist  petition  that 
Christianity  should  not  be  allowed  to  be  taught  in  the 
school,  he  was  requested  to  not  teach  the  Bible,  directly, 
in  the  Doshisha  for  the  present.  The  governor  said,  how- 
ever, that  Christianity  could  be  taught  under  the  name  of 
"  Moral  Science,"  and  that  the  Bible  could  be  taught  and 
preaching  conducted  in  the  houses  of  the  professors.  When 
this  was  known,  the  owner  of  the  school  building  removed 
his  objection  to  the  use  of  his  property,  and  the  opposition 
was  quiescent  for  a  time. 

Before  Mr.  Neesima's  interview  with  the  governor,  Mr. 
Davis  advised  him  on  no  account  to  promise  not  to  teach 
the  Bible  in  the  school  buildings.  He  urged  that  it  was 
better  to  have  no  school  building,  or  even  to  leave  the 
city,  than  to  make  such  a  promise.  Upon  Mr.  Neesima's 
return  from  the  castle  with  the  report  that  he  had  given 
his  word  to  the  governor  that  the  Bible,  for  the  present, 
should  not  be  taught  in  the  school  building,  his  distress  was 
very  great.  His  first  impulse  was  to  pack  up  and  leave 
the  city,  but  he  had  signed  a  contract  to  teach  only  what 
his  employers,  Messrs.  Neesima  and  Yamamoto  sanctioned, 
and  this  promise,  together  with  the  fact  that  a  little  boy 
had  been  born  into  his  home  a  few  days  before,  held  him 

1 "  Satauma,"  the  powerful  reactionary  southern  clan,  which  rebelled  in  1877  under 
he  leadership  of  General  Saigo. 


THE  FOUNDING  OF  THE  DOSHISHA          149 

to  his  post.  The  Bible  could  still  be  taught  in  his  home 
and  Christianity  in  the  school,  under  the  name  of  Moral 
Science,  and  so  with  many  misgivings  and  with  the  heaviest 
heart  he  had  yet  had  in  Japan,  he  decided  to  support  the 
position  of  his  Japanese  colleague,  hoping  that  it  was  God's 
way  of  opening  the  city. 

Of  this  critical  experience,  he  wrote  to  Boston: — "  While, 
at  the  first,  I  would  rather  have  cut  off  my  right  hand 
than  have  made  the  promise  that  Mr.  Neesima  made,  yet 
I  now  incline  to  think  it  was  a  wiser  way  than  to  have  left 
the  city;  certainly  wiser  than  to  have  remained  here  and 
to  have  tried  to  go  against  the  orders  of  the  Governor  of 
Kyoto  and  the  central  government.  So  far  as  I  know,  the 
mission  is  a  unit  in  approving  the  wisdom  of  this  course." 
An  Osaka  colleague  wrote:  —  "Dear  Mr.  Davis:  We  are 
filled  with  surprise  and  anxiety  by  the  report  of  the  new 
attitude  of  the  government  toward  you  and  the  school. 
You  have  our  constant  sympathy  and  prayers.  We  held 
a  special  meeting  for  prayer  in  your  behalf  on  Wednesday. 
We  are  assured  that  the  Christ,  in  obedience  to  whose 
command  you  stand  among  the  Kyoto  people  with  the 
Gospel  message,  will  be  with  you  in  every  hour  and  extrem- 
ity. You  were  doubtless  wise  in  making  the  concessions 
which  the  governor  requested.  Having  done  this  you  stand 
on  ground  marked  out  by  him,  and  are  still  at  liberty 
to  teach  and  preach  the  Gospel.  With  much  love  to  all, 
Yours  truly,  M.  L.  Gordon." 

The  Doshisha  was  formally  opened  on  the  morning  of 
the  29th  of  November,  at  eight  o'clock,  in  Mr.  Neesima's 
home,  with  a  prayer-meeting,  in  which  all  six  pupils  took 
part,  after  which  all  adjourned  to  the  schoolhouse,  where 
two  other  young  men  were  received,  making  seven  board- 
ing scholars  and  one  day  scholar.  "  I  shall  never  forget 
Mr.  Neesima's  tender,  tearful,  earnest  prayer  in  his  house 


150  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

that  morning  as  we  began  the  school;  all  prayed  from 
the  heart."  By  the  end  of  the  first  winter  the  number  of 
students  had  increased  to  forty. 

It  became  evident,  as  time  went  on,  that  Mr.  Neesima's 
promise  to  the  governor,  compromising  as  it  seemed  to 
many,  was  a  far-sighted  action.  The  very  existence  of  the 
school,  the  ability  to  rent  a  building,  and  the  securing  of 
the  needed  passports  for  the  residence  of  foreign  teachers 
in  the  city,  depended  upon  the  good  will  of  Governor 
M^akimura.  This  official  found  himself  in  a  hard  position, 
caught  between  the  pressure  of  the  immensely  powerful 
religious  parties  of  his  city  and  the  orders  of  the  central 
government.  To  offend  him  at  this  juncture  would  have 
been  fatal.  Moreover,  the  fact  that  he  had  put  the  matter 
in  the  form  of  a  request  and  not  a  command  placed  the 
question  upon  a  personal  basis,  which  was  impossible  to 
gainsay  without  offending  the  deepest  instincts  of  Japanese 
courtesy. 

This  lesson  in  diplomacy,  early  in  his  life  in  Japan,  was 
of  the  utmost  value  to  Mr.  Davis,  whose  nature  wras  to 
face  frontal  attacks  without  compromise.  He  now  learned 
how  dear  to  the  Oriental  heart  is  the  desire  to  "  save 
face,"  and  that  sometimes  the  main  issue  of  a  question 
may  be  maintained,  in  spite  of  the  sacrifice  of  outward 
forms.  The  governor  of  the  city  was  not  humiliated  in  the 
eyes  of  the  people  and  remained  a  friend  of  the  Doshisha, 
while  on  the  other  hand,  the  Christian  school  respected 
the  wish  of  both  central  and  local  governments,  without 
excluding  the  possibility  of  accomplishing  its  work,  and  with 
the  door  left  open  for  a  future  satisfactory  settlement  of 
the  question. 

His  diary  of  this  date  says:  —  "We  certainly  do  not 
want  to  stir  up  trouble  here.  We  can  better  afford  to 
wait  and  work  quietly,  until  the  people  find  out  that  we 
are  not  as  bad  as  our  reputation.  Two  years  ago  such  a 


THE  FOUNDING  OF  THE  DOSHISHA          151 

turn  as  affairs  have  taken  would  have  made  me  very 
anxious,  but  I  have  partly  learned  one  lesson  since  coming 
to  Japan,  viz:  '  In  whatsoever  state  I  am,  therein  to  be 
content,  and  wait  God's  time  and  His  way  for  everything.' 
We  labor  at  a  great  disadvantage  here  as  soon  as  there  is 
any  trouble,  because  we  do  everything  in  the  name  of  a 
Japanese." 

His  loyalty  to  Mr.  Neesima  throughout  this  critical 
time  was  absolute.  He  was  in  a  position  to  realize  the 
heroic  service  that  Neesima  was  performing;  the  moral 
heroism  involved  in  the  single-handed  fight  his  Japanese 
colleague  was  making  against  the  organized  opposition  of 
a  great  city  and  the  indifference  of  the  central  government. 
He  knew  well  that  Neesima  was  the  pivot  upon  which  the 
whole  enterprise  hung,  and  though  sometimes  differing  with 
him  as  to  the  wisest  means  of  procedure,  when  the  die  was 
cast,  he  supported  him  with  a  friendship  and  steadfastness 
that  greatly  strengthened  Mr.  Neesima's  hands.  He  wrote 
on  Nov.  24th:  —  "Mr.  Neesima  is  chagrined  at  the 
turn  affairs  have  taken  and  fears,  I  think,  that  the  mission 
will  blame  him,  though  I  see  no  room  for  it.  He  does  not 
make  nor  rule  the  governors  of  this  land."  In  response 
to  a  letter  from  Boston  which  questioned  the  wisdom  of 
planning  for  a  college,  he  wrote  in  the  summer  of  1875: 
"  The  idea  of  a  Christian  college  is  a  part  of  Mr.  Neesima's 
life.  He  is  praying  and  planning  about  it  all  the  time. 
Yet  he  does  not  want  to  be  connected  with  that  college. 
He  does  not  even  want  to  teach  in  the  Training  School,  if 
he  can  be  relieved.  He  wishes  to  give  all  his  time  to 
preaching  the  Gospel.  .  .  .  The  work  we  have  been  able 
to  do  in  the  city  is  indescribably  precious.  The  ferment 
caused  by  the  priests  called  the  attention  of  everybody  to 
us,  and  they  have  been  coming  from  all  parts  of  the  city 
to  inquire  and  hear  on  week  days  and  on  the  Sabbath. 
We  have  given  away  nearly  two  thousand  tracts,  contain- 


152  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

ing  the  marrow  of  the  Gospel,  to  those  who  have  come  to 
our  houses.  Over  seventy  were  present  here  last  Sabbath 
morning  and  over  fifty  at  Mr.  Neesima's  in  the  afternoon. 
The  girls  in  the  government  school,  from  which  Mrs.  Nee- 
sima  was  discharged,  have  started  a  daily  prayer-meeting 
in  the  school." 

Notwithstanding  the  reactionary  spirit  in  Kyoto,  the 
liberal  attitude  of  the  government  in  the  country  at  large 
was  already  bearing  fruit,  and  each  day  brought  news  of 
growing  religious  toleration.  In  one  morning  word  of  the 
prayer-meeting  in  the  Government  School,  just  cited,  had 
been  barely  received,  when  two  influential  men  from  the 
northwest  of  the  city  came  in,  saying  that  they  believed 
Christianity  to  be  the  true  way,  and  that  they  and  their 
families  wanted  to  follow  it.  The  postman  next  handed 
in  a  letter  from  Osaka,  saying  that  the  town  of  Sakai, 
where  there  had  been  bitter  prejudice,  was  now  having  the 
Gospel  regularly  preached.  A  letter  from  Kobe  related  how 
the  governor,  who  had  formerly  told  the  missionaries  that 
he  would  have  to  imprison  anyone  selling  a  Bible,  was  now 
employing  a  Christian  to  preach  the  Gospel  to  the  prison- 
ers in  the  city  gaol  on  the  Sabbath,  and  to  teach  them  dur- 
ing the  week.  Before  these  letters  were  fully  read,  Mr. 
Neesima  called  with  an  official  notice  from  the  Imperial 
Department  of  Education,  stating  that  it  had  received  the 
applications  for  the  residence  of  Prof.  Learned  and  Dr. 
Taylor,  which  had  been  approved  and  forwarded  by  the 
Governor  of  Kyoto.  He  also  reported  that  the  official  in 
charge  of  the  Exhibition,  soon  to  open  in  Kyoto,  had 
granted  permission  for  Bibles  to  be  placed  on  exhibition. 
Of  that  morning's  experiences  Mr.  Davis  placed  in  his 
diary:  —  "After  hearing  all  this  we  joined  in  a  praise 
service.  Life  here  is  indescribably  exciting  and  indescrib- 
ably precious.  Were  Japan  and  God's  Truth  going  back- 
ward in  the  world  we  might  get  discouraged,  but  both  are 


THE  FOUNDING  OF  THE  DOSHISHA         153 

going  forward.  No  human  power  can  stop  them.  Our 
happiness  and  joy  in  the  work  are  unbounded." 

In  spite  of  these  causes  of  rejoicing  the  long  delay  and 
official  red  tape  involved  in  the  securing  of  permits  for  the 
two  new  missionaries'  residence  in  Kyoto  were  of  a  kind 
to  try  the  patience  of  more  patient  men  than  the  two  who 
were  holding  on  for  reinforcements  in  Kyoto.  Until  the 
coming  of  these  added  teachers  and  this  proof  of  the  willing- 
ness of  the  government  to  put  the  Christian  school  on 
a  permanent  basis,  the  future  was  insecure.  The  negotia- 
tions dragged  through  five  weary  months.  The  Kyoto 
governor  seemed  to  be  fighting  against  time  before  yielding 
this  last  point.  "  Dec.  15th,  1875.  Mr.  Neesima  had 
a  long  consultation  with  the  vice-governor  last  night.  He 
says  that  the  Shinto  officials  are  banded  with  the  Buddhist 
priests  to  resist  us  in  every  possible  way:  that  the  Kyoto 
Fu  is  not  afraid  of  the  priests,  but  of  a  band  of  Satsuma 
men,  now  attached  to  the  Kyoto  Fu,  who  are  trying  to 
make  trouble.  Hence  they  think  it  unwise  to  make  any 
more  applications  now.  I  advised  Mr.  Neesima  not  to  urge 
the  matter  at  all,  but  to  let  things  rest  for  the  present." 

A  little  later,  Mr.  Davis  wrote  to  Boston: — "Applica- 
tions to  the  Yedo  government  for  Dr.  Taylor  and  Prof. 
Learned  were  made  out,  and  the  governor  promised  to 
send  them  to  Tokyo.  Waiting  for  several  weeks  without  a 
reply,  Mr.  Neesima  went  to  the  castle  and  inquired  whether 
the  paper  had  gone  to  Yedo.  He  was  told  that  the  clerk 
had  gone  to  Tamba  with  the  governor,  and  would  not  be 
back  for  a  week  and  that  the  governor,  after  keeping  the 
papers  several  days,  signed  them  and  gave  them  to  the 
absent  clerk  to  forward  to  Tokyo,  but  that  this  clerk  had 
lost  the  papers,  and  could  not  find  them.  There  was  noth- 
ing to  to  do  but  await  the  governor's  return.  Upon  his 
return,  Governor  Makimura  requested  Mr.  Neesima  to 
prepare  new  copies  of  the  application.  He  next  had  a 


154  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

friendly  consultation  with  Mr.  Yamamoto,  professing  to  be 
very  anxious  to  have  Christianity  taught  in  Kyoto  and  to 
have  two  more  foreign  teachers  in  the  school,  and  promised 
to  send  the  applications  to  Yedo  the  next  day.  A  full 
month  elapsed  and  no  word  came  from  Yedo.  Mr.  Yama- 
moto enquired  of  the  Governor's  secretary  and  was  told  that 
the  petitions  had  been  sent  a  month  before  and  that  they 
were  looking  for  the  answers  every  day.  Three  weeks  more 
elapsed  and  I  heard  through  a  Japanese  friend  in  Yedo, 
who  had  enquired,  that  the  petitions  had  never  been  re- 
ceived in  Tokyo.  Mr.  Neesima  then  saw  the  governor 
again  and  was  told  that  he  never  promised  Mr.  Yamamoto 
that  he  would  send  them,  and  that  he  was  awaiting  a  fa- 
vourable time  to  do  so,  and  that  the  city  would  soon  be 
open  to  foreigners  for  one  hundred  and  fourteen  days,  dur- 
ing the  Exhibition.  He  advised  Mr.  Neesima  to  employ 
Dr.  Taylor  and  Prof.  Learned  in  the  school  during  this 
period,  saying  that  perhaps  before  that  expired,  a  favour- 
able time  to  send  off  the  petitions  would  come.  This  is 
the  best  we  can  do,  and  we  must  wait,  trusting  alone  in 
God." 

The  unwavering  support  of  the  blind  counsellor,  Mr. 
Yamamoto,  through  all  the  vicissitudes  of  these  months 
was  a  source  of  great  encouragement  and  strength.  Here 
was  a  man  who  stood  like  a  rock  in  the  midst  of  the  eddies 
of  changing  political  and  official  opinion,  and  openly  and 
enthusiastically  espoused  the  Christian  movement.  When 
this  staunch  friend  heard  of  the  establishment  of  the  Girls' 
Normal  School  in  Yedo  with  the  Christian,  Mr.  Nakamura, 
at  its  head,  he  remarked: — "If  this  appointment  was 
made  by  the  Yedo  government,  there  is  no  use  in  the 
Kyoto  Fu  trying  to  keep  Christianity  out  of  Kyoto  any 
longer.  In  the  meantime  the  school  is  flourishing  and, 
better  still,  the  people  are  anxious  to  hear  the  Truth. 
Nearly  fifty  came  in  a  pouring  rain  to  my  house  last  Sab- 


THE  FOUNDING  OF  THE  DOSHISHA          155 

bath  morning;  the  Bible  and  tracts  are  being  sold;  we 
have  given  away  2,000  tracts,  containing  the  marrow 
of  the  Gospel."  Dec.  14th:  —  "The  Chiu-kyo-in,  or 
Government  Religious  School,  has  been  holding  several 
exciting  meetings  to  see  if  Doshisha  cannot  be  stopped. 
The  priests  are  doing  a  good  deal  to  stir  up  the  people. 
Tokuzo,  our  cook,  waiting  at  an  Amah's l  to  be  rubbed 
the  other  day,  overheard  some  men  talking  about  the 
4  priests  of  the  Yasokyo  '  (Jesus  faith),  who  had  come  to 
Kyoto  and  were  doing  all  manner  of  magical  things,  making 
horses  talk,  etc.  Further,  because  the  government  had 
allowed  this  wicked  thing  to  come  to  Kyoto,  that  one  of 
the  gods  would  cover  up  the  sun  for  eight  days,  so  that 
everything  in  Japan  would  die." 

Early  in  December,  Mr.  Davis  placed  the  first  Bibles 
and  Christian  literature  on  sale  in  the  city.  Up  to  this 
time  a  few  stores  had  kept  Bibles  secretly,  only  bringing 
them  out  when  called  for  by  purchasers.  He  now  arranged 
with  the  principal  bookstore  of  the  city  to  handle  a  line  of 
Bibles  and  tracts,  and  to  supply  from  this  center  a  num- 
ber of  the  smaller  shops  of  the  city. 

From  the  first  winter  in  Kyoto,  with  twenty  hours  a 
week  of  teaching  in  the  school,  personal  evangelism  occu- 
pied a  large  place  in  his  time  and  thought:  —  "Besides 
occasional  lectures,  I  am  engaged  four  hours  each  day  in 
teaching  in  the  school  except  Saturday,  which  I  try  to 
keep  sacred  to  rest.  Half  of  this  is  Bible  teaching,  the 
rest  scientific.  I  try  to  spend  an  hour  or  two  in  my  study 
every  day,  reviewing  translations  of  books  for  the  Training 
School,  or  for  publication,  writing  for  our  Japanese  paper, 
or  in  the  study  of  the  language;  but  this  good  intention 
is  continually  interrupted  by  people  who  come  to  inquire 
after  the  Truth,  and  whom  I  cannot  find  it  in  my  heart 
to  refuse  to  see.  In  the  evening,  after  supper,  while  bowing 

J  Professional  masseur. 


156  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

around  our  family  altar,  I  try  to  throw  off  the  care  and 
the  thought  of  the  great  work,  which  I  can  hardly  touch, 
upon  Him,  who  careth  for  us.  I  spend  twenty  minutes  or 
half  an  hour  looking  at  the  news  of  the  month  or  in  lighter 
reading  or  conversation,  and  then,  generally  before  fashion- 
able people  are  through  their  dinner,  I  begin  to  try  to  get 
the  nine  hours'  sleep  without  which  I  cannot  stand  the 
strain." 

Through  the  winter  of  1875  and  1876,  the  prejudice 
against  the  Christian  movement  in  Kyoto  continued  strong 
and  was  expressed  in  many  ways.  Although  the  governor 
had  finally  sent  the  applications  for  the  two  new  mission- 
aries' residence  on  to  Yedo,  he  had  been  led  to  believe  that 
Mr.  Neesima  had  no  other  purpose  in  starting  the  Doshisha 
than  to  introduce  foreign  missionaries  into  the  city  to 
spread  Christianity,  and  that  the  Doshisha  was  not  to  be 
a  school  at  all,  but  merely  a  preaching  place. 

At  the  suburb  of  Fushimi,  a  prominent  doctor  had 
kindly  received  the  Gospel,  inviting  the  neighbors  to  gather 
to  hear  Mr.  Neesima  and  Mr.  Davis  preach  each  Sabbath 
in  his  home.  Finally,  the  city  officials  became  very  sus- 
picious, and  in  December  ordered  the  physician  to  appear 
before  the  Kyoto  Fu  and  to  present  in  writing  a  minute 
account  of  all  that  he  had  done  and  that  had  transpired  in 
his  house.  He  was  told  that  he  must  not  allow  such 
gatherings  at  his  home.  All  who  had  listened  or  had 
received  tracts  were  also  summoned  to  appear  at  the  office 
and  were  closely  questioned  and  frightened.  On  the  last 
of  three  successive  official  examinations,  the  following  con- 
versation occurred,  showing  the  methods  of  intimidation 
used.  "  This  Davis  came  up  here  to  teach  an  English 
school,  did  he  not?  Yes.  Then  he  is  like  a  man  who  has  a 
license  to  sell  deer  meat,  but  who  sells  dog  meat.  Well,  is 
it  dog  meat?  I  used  to  think  so,  but  on  tasting  it,  I  find 
it  is  a  great  deal  better  than  deer  meat;  but  I  would  like 


THE  FOUNDING  OF  THE  DOSHISHA          157 

to  ask  you  one  question :  —  this  way  is  taught  publicly  in 
Kobe  and  Osaka  and  in  Tokyo.  How  is  it  that  here  in 
the  Kyoto  Fu  a  man  is  not  allowed  to  hear  it  in  his  own 
house?  Are  we  not  all  under  the  same  government?"  "Well," 
replied  the  official,  "I  do  not  say  that  way  is 
either  good  or  bad,  and  I  do  not  say  that  your  friends 
cannot  hear  it  in  your  own  house,  but  you  let  in  the 
common  people,  who  cannot  understand  it;  we  cannot 
allow  this.  We  have  good  and  sufficient  religions  in  Japan, 
we  do  not  want  any  more.  We  have  Confucianism  for 
scholars  like  you  and  Buddhism  for  the  masses."  The  doc- 
tor replied: — "If  Confucianism  and  Buddhism  are  all- 
sufficient  religions,  taught  hundreds  of  years  before  Christ, 
by  their  founders  through  long  lives,  why  is  it  that  they 
have  not  spread  beyond  India  and  China  and  Japan?  And 
if  Christianity  is  a  bad  way,  how  is  it,  since  its  founder 
only  taught  three  years,  that  it  has  spread  all  over  the 
world?"  "Well,  we  do  not  say  that  it  is  either  bad  or 
good,  but  you  must  not  allow  the  people  to  meet  at  your 
house,  and  you  are  discharged,"  replied  the  official.  The 
physician  went  directly  to  Mr.  Davis  from  the  city  office 
and  reported  this  conversation  in  detail.  He  borrowed  a 
quantity  of  books  and  tracts,  and  lent  them  to  his  neigh- 
bors, but  so  prejudiced  were  the  people  against  him  that 
his  practice  gradually  fell  off  so  that  he  came  near  starva- 
tion, and,  finally,  lost  all  interest  in  Christianity. 

The  new  year  opened  with  two  memorable  events  in 
the  little  Christian  community  of  Kyoto.  The  first  Chris- 
tian communion  ever  held  in  the  old  capital  took  place  in 
the  missionary's  home.  The  little  band  of  seven  or  eight 
Christians  were  drawn  very  close  together,  and  they  publicly 
confessed  their  faith  by  the  symbols  of  mystical  union  with 
their  Saviour.  Oyaye  Yamamoto,  the  sister  of  the  blind 
counsellor,  and  Merle,  the  two  months  old  son,  were  bap- 
tized. Mr.  Neesima  officiated  at  the  communion  table. 


158  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

On  the  afternoon  of  January  third,  Miss  Yamamoto  and 
Mr.  Neesima  were  married  in  the  presence  of  the  students  of 
the  school,  the  brother  and  daughter  of  the  local  Daimyo 
and  several  friends  of  the  Yamamoto  family.  Commenting 
upon  this  affair  in  a  letter  to  the  mission,  Mr.  Davis  said: — 
"Mr.  Neesima  would,  I  think,  have  preferred  to  have  had 
yesterday's  doings  more  secret,  but  I  overruled  him.  What 
will  be  the  result  of  this  and  the  Fushimi  affair  and  of  all 
our  affairs,  only  God  knows.  It  may  prove  that  you  have 
sent  the  wrong  man  up  here,  but  if  I  cannot  do  what  I  do 
above  board,  and  teach  all  that  come  to  my  house  for  the 
Truth  and  those  who  ask  me  to  come  to  their  homes  to 
teach  them,  then  I  had  rather  leave  Kyoto  and  Japan  too, 
if  necessary.  Mr.  Neesima  fears  that  the  governor  will 
keep  the  applications  for  the  two  families  when  they  are 
returned  from  Yedo  and  thus  delay  us,  and  I  am  waiting 
before  putting  Dr.  Taylor's  house  under  repair." 

Toward  the  end  of  the  winter  the  long-looked-for  per- 
mits for  the  residence  of  the  new  families  were  received  and 
the  way  now  seemed  open  to  put  the  Doshisha  ^pon  a 
more  permanent  basis. 


CHAPTER  XII 
MOVING  MOUNTAINS   INTO  THE  SEA 

THE  story  of  the  Doshisha  is  not  merely  a  record  of 
human  achievement.  There  are  few  portions  of 
Christian  history  in  which  the  hand  of  God  is  seen 
working  more  strikingly  to  accomplish  his  gracious  pur- 
poses for  a  nation. 

We  have  described  two  lines  of  influence  that,  widely 
separated,  had,  under  divine  guidance,  converged  to  create 
the  infant  Doshisha.  We  have  seen  the  school  opened 
under  great  opposition  and  in  the  face  of  mighty  obstacles. 
We  must  now  turn  back  and  trace  a  third  factor  that  was 
to  enter  the  Doshisha  to  give  it  a  stability  and  a  quality 
in  its  earliest  days  which  has  exerted  an  extraordinary 
influence  upon  its  whole  career.  Of  scarcely  less  influence 
was  this  new  factor  in  the  life  of  Mr.  Davis. 

One  morning,  in  February,  1876,  in  the  darkest  days  of 
the  first  winter,  when  the  opposition  was  so  great  that  it 
seemed  as  though  the  whole  enterprise  must  fail,  a  letter 
came  to  Mr.  Davis  from  Captain  L.  L.  Janes,  a  teacher  in 
a  government  institution  in  the  southern  city  of  Kumamoto. 
He  asked  if  a  number  of  the  graduates  of  his  school  could 
be  received  by  the  Doshisha  to  be  prepared  for  the  Chris- 
tian ministry.  Mr.  Davis  had  never  heard  of  the  man  or  of 
the  school  and  could  scarcely  believe  that  such  a  work  had 
been  accomplished  without  the  knowledge  of  his  mission. 

In  the  spring  of  1871,  the  feudal  lord  of  Kumamoto, 
like  many  other  princes  in  Japan,  had  established  a  school 
for  the  instruction  of  the  youth  of  his  province,  in  western 
science.  He  desired,  particularly,  that  the  foreign  teacher 
should  be  a  man  of  military  spirit,  so  that  the  war-like 

159 


160  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

traditions  of  his  clan  might  be  maintained.  He  must  have 
a  foreign  soldier  for  his  school.  Through  the  assistance  of 
Dr.  G.  F.  Verbeck,  the  pioneer  missionary  of  the  Dutch 
Reformed  Church,  Captain  Janes,  a  retired  officer  of  the 
United  States  Army,  was  secured  for  the  Kumamoto 
school. 

Kumamoto  was  among  the  most  conservative  sections 
of  Japan,  where  the  hatred  of  Christianity  was  intense,  and 
where  foreigners  and  foreign  innovations  were  equally  dis- 
liked by  the  masses.  Captain  Janes  and  his  family  were 
often  in  peril,  but  worked  on  quietly,  gaining  the  friendship 
and  confidence  of  the  citizens.  For  three  years  the  foreign 
teacher  said  nothing  of  Christianity  to  his  students,  but  at 
the  end  of  that  time  he  announced  that  he  would  begin  a 
Bible  lecture,  and  that  anyone  who  wished  to  attend  would 
be  made  welcome. 

As  one  of  these  students  later  wrote,  "  We  still  hated 
Christianity  as  if  it  were  a  snake,  and  did  not  even  like  to 
see  a  Bible,  but  we  respected  him  so,  that  we  all  con- 
cluded to  go  to  the  lecture.  ...  Of  the  few  who  attended, 
some  went  out  of  curiosity,  others  for  amusement,  others 
simply  that  they  might  oppose;  none  with  the  desire  to 
accept  Christianity.  At  this  time,  he  simply  taught  the 
Bible  and  never  exhorted  us  to  become  Christians,  and 
when  two  of  us  thought  to  impose  on  him  by  pretending 
that  we  wished  to  become  preachers,  he  met  us  sternly, 
saying,  '  You  are  not  yet  worthy  to  become  preachers,  go 
on  with  your  Bible  study.'  After  a  year  of  this  work,  a 
few  of  the  students  were  really  touched  by  the  Gospel  and 
the  school  was  divided  into  two  factions,  one  favorable  to 
Christianity,  the  other  seeking  to  oppose  it  by  the  learning 
of  the  Chinese  sages.  For  about  six  months,  we  were  thus 
divided  in  our  admiration  for  Christianity  and  for  Confu- 
cianism, studying  Christianity  with  Captain  Janes  in  the 
morning  and  Confucianism  with  the  Chinese  teacher  in  the 


MOVING  MOUNTAINS  INTO  THE  SEA          161 

afternoon,  but  by  the  end  of  the  year,  all  except  one  or 
two  of  our  class  were  united  in  their  belief  in  Christianity. 

"  By  Captain  Janes'  advice,  some  of  us  spent  the  New 
Year's  vacation  in  the  study  of  John's  Gospel  and  in 
prayer  to  God  for  his  blessing  upon  ourselves  and  our  class- 
mates. When  the  new  term  opened,  these  Christian  stu- 
dents had  a  faith  that  burned  like  fire,  so  that  they  could 
not  but  preach  to  their  fellow-students  and  try  to  lead 
them  to  the  gate  of  salvation.  The  whole  school  was  like  a 
boiling  caldron;  the  studies  were  neglected  and  groups  of 
five  or  six  men  began  to  study  the  Bible  in  the  recitation 
rooms,  the  dining-room  or  in  their  bed-rooms.  The  stu- 
dents had  but  little  knowledge  of  the  Bible  or  Theology; 
they  knew  less  about  revivals  or  the  work  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  but  they  were  impelled  to  preach;  even  though  some 
of  them  were  but  twelve  years  old.  We  wondered  why  our 
spirits  burned  like  a  fire  and  why  we  preached  the  Gospel 
like  mad  men." 

The  result  of  this  visitation  of  the  power  of  God  in  the 
school  was  the  conversion  of  forty  students,  while  fifty 
others  began  to  study  the  Bible.  On  the  last  Sabbath  of 
January,  1876,  the  forty  Christian  students  went  out  to  a 
hill  called  "  Hana  oka  yama,"  l  near  Kumamoto.  Singing 
hymns  as  they  climbed,  they  seated  themselves  upon  the 
summit  and  there  made  a  solemn  covenant  together,  that, 
as  they  had  thus  been  blessed  of  God  in  advance  of  their 
countrymen,  they  would  pledge  themselves  for  the  enlight- 
enment of  the  empire  by  preaching  the  Gospel,  even  at 
the  sacrifice  of  their  lives.  They  sealed  their  lofty  purpose 
by  kneeling  in  prayer  and  signing  their  names  to  the  cove- 
nant paper.  Thus  was  born  the  Kumamoto  Band,  which 
became  one  of  the  great  forces  in  building  Christianity  in 
Japan. 

On  hearing  of  the  Christian  covenant,  fierce  persecution 

*  Flowery  Hill. 


162  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

flamed  out  in  the  school  and  in  the  city.  The  boys  were 
beaten,  imprisoned  by  their  families  and  threatened  with 
their  lives.  The  school  was  closed  and  some  of  the  students 
recanted  their  faith,  but  thirty  stood  firm  under  the  great- 
est trials,  although  the  oldest  was  less  than  twenty  years 
of  age,  and  not  only  gained  the  victory,  but  became  the 
stronger  through  their  persecutions. 

It  was  in  February,  1876,  in  the  midst  of  this  testing 
of  his  students,  that  Captain  Janes  wrote  to  Mr.  Davis, 
asking  if  the  Doshisha  could  receive  this  band  of  storm- 
tried  young  Christians  who  had  pledged  themselves  to 
evangelize  Japan.  He  was  opposed  to  sectarianism  and 
looked  to  the  Doshisha  to  train  his  students,  since  it  seemed 
to  him  to  stand  for  Christian  unity  and  liberal  policies. 
"  My  work  has  been  accompanied  from  the  time  it  was 
possible  to  speak  of  Christianity,"  wrote  Captain  Janes, 
"by  constant  religious  instruction  of  my  pupils;  in  fact,  the 
whole  work  has  been  inspired  from  the  first  with  the  aim, 
on  my  part,  of  making  it  subserve  the  upbuilding  of  the 
Kingdom  of  Christ."  On  March  fourth,  he  wrote:  "  My 
boys  and  I  have  been  passing  through  unusual  events,  and 
the  mutterings  of  a  sharp,  vindictive  persecution  are  still 
in  the  air.  I  think  the  little  colony  is  practically  intact; 
no  lives  have  been  taken,  though  that  was  threatened 
seriously,  and  there  are  no  cases  of  '  hara  kiri ' l  yet,  though 
two  parents  threatened  to  take  that  method  of  driving 
their  sons  from  the  faith;  their  degradation  was  declared 
to  be  insupportable.  I  grieve  over  my  imprisoned  boys. 
The  strength  of  one  is  failing  and  the  persecutors  may  kill 
him." 

To  Mr.  Davis  he  wrote,  introducing  the  first  of  the 
Kumamoto  graduates  to  arrive  in  Kyoto,  "  He  was  one  of 
the  first  to  see  the  light,  to  be  convinced  of  the  saving 
power  of  Christianity,  and  to  give  his  heart  unalterably  to 

*  Suicide  by  disembowelling  with  the  short  sword. 


MOVING  MOUNTAINS  INTO  THE  SEA          163 

Jesus,  and  as  a  consequence  he  was  subjected  to  the  most 
outrageous  treatment  at  the  hands  of  his  brother,  and  has 
been  imprisoned  for  120  days.  He  was  made  a  slave  of  the 
servants  of  the  family,  who  were  instructed  to  treat  him 
as  devil-possessed,  without  human  rights.  He  is  now 
practically  an  outcast;  he  is  as  a  shorn  lamb;  he  is  leaving 
all." 

In  October,  1876,  Captain  Janes  was  notified  that  his 
services  were  no  longer  desired  in  Kumamoto,  since  it  was 
not  the  purpose  of  the  authorities  to  keep  a  school  for 
making  preachers,  and  it  became  an  open  question  what 
course  he  should  follow.  Mr.  Davis  was  deeply  impressed 
with  the  work  and  spirit  of  Captain  Janes  and  believed 
that  his  fearlessness,  his  burning  zeal,  his  high  scholarship 
and  his  skill  in  the  training  of  Japanese  young  men  singled 
him  out  as  the  man  to  head  the  new  collegiate  department 
of  the  Doshisha.  After  a  visit  of  Captain  Janes  to  Kyoto 
in  the  summer,  he  wrote  earnestly  to  Boston  and  to  his 
colleagues,  urging  that  a  man  with  such  a  record  should 
not  be  allowed  to  slip  through  their  fingers. 

Although  a  large  majority  in  the  mission  favored  his 
appointment  and  even  voted  to  advance  his  travel  expenses 
to  and  from  America,  there  were  those  who  conscientiously 
objected  to  such  use  of  mission  funds,  and  this,  together 
with  complications  that  arose  in  the  United  States,  led 
Captain  Janes  to  decline  to  consider  the  whole  matter.1 
This  was  a  severe  trial  to  Mr.  Davis.  The  disappointment 
in  losing  such  a  leader  for  the  college  was  keen,  and  equally 
hard  to  bear  was,  as  he  supposed,  the  reflection  in  Captain 
Janes'  withdrawal  of  a  sentiment  within  the  mission  of  op- 
position to  a  collegiate  department  and  to  the  school  in 
Kyoto.  There  is  ample  evidence  that  the  accuracy  of  this 

*One  of  the  unpublished  tragedies  of  the  Christian  Movement  in  Japan  is  wrapped 
up  in  the  history  of  this  remarkable  man. 

His  return  to  Japan,  in  1893,  as  an  enemy  of  revealed  religion,  and  his  persistent 
efforts  to  undermine  the  faith  of  the  very  men  whom  he  had  led  into  the  light  are 
well  known,  and  cannot  be  overlooked  in  an  impartial  survey  of  his  career, 


164  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

interpretation  of  mission  action  was  not  substantiated  by 
the  facts,  and  the  incident  illustrates  a  tendency  in  his 
sensitive  nature  which  made  it  difficult  for  him  to  under- 
stand the  motives  of  those  whom  a  more  judicial  tempera- 
ment impelled  to  question  his  policies. 

The  leaders  of  the  Board  in  Boston  now  generally  ap- 
proved the  college  plan,  but  were  anxious  lest  the  high 
Christian  purpose  of  the  school  should  be  weakened  through 
its  development  Into  a  full  collegiate  institute.  To  Dr. 
Clark,  who  not  only  expressed  doubt  regarding  the  entrance 
of  non-Christian  young  men  into  the  Doshisha,  but  urged 
that  only  candidates  for  the  ministry  be  received,  he  replied 
in  no  uncertain  tones,  "  We  are  going  to  start  a  school 
with  a  course  of  study  arranged  for  the  training  of  men  for 
the  ministry.  We  plan  to  aid  these  young  men,  as  far  as 
we  wisely  can,  by  giving  them  work  to  do.  In  a  great  life 
center  like  Kyoto,  where  the  Truth  enters  in  the  name  of 
this  school  for  the  first  time,  shall  we  limit  the  Doshisha  to 
the  half  dozen  Christian  young  men  who  will  come  in? 
Especially  when  the  governor  of  the  city  is  willing  that  the 
Truth  be  taught  to  everybody,  and  when  young  men  are 
coming  to  us  every  month  from  a  distance,  where  as  yet 
no  missionary  has  ever  been,  asking  to  be  taught  so  that 
they  may  return  and  teach  their  townsmen?  The  stones, 
the  rocks  and  all  the  inanimate  things  in  Japan  would  cry 
out  '  No '  to  such  an  idea. 

"  We  plan  to  receive  all  young  men  of  good  character  who 
will  come  and  pursue  our  course  of  study  and  pay  for  their 
board,  up  to  the  limit  of  our  building,  and  we  will  take  all 
others  who  are  willing  to  rent  rooms  elsewhere  and  come  in 
as  day  pupils." 

To  a  member  of  the  Prudential  Committee  who  sug- 
gested that  the  candidates  for  the  ministry  be  sent  to  the 
government  colleges  for  their  scientific  training,  he  wrote: 
"  To  send  our  young  men  to  government  schools,  nine-tenths 


MOVING  MOUNTAINS  INTO  THE  SEA          165 

of  whose  graduates  become  officials  and  most  of  them 
infidels,  will  not  secure  this  end.  Students  who  pursue 
the  full  course  of  the  present  Doshisha  will  not  have  as 
much  of  science  as  the  government  requires  of  teachers  of 
common  schools.  It  is  all  well  to  give  Bible  training,  only, 
to  certain  men  whose  hearts  are  on  fire  with  the  love  of 
Christ,  and  send  them  out  to  work,  but  zeal,  alone,  cannot 
convert  Japan.  Is  it  too  much  to  give  the  pastors  who  are 
to  grapple  with  the  progressive  spirit  of  this  empire  during 
the  next  fifty  years  as  much  knowledge  of  science  as  is 
required  of  common  school  teachers?  We  cannot  do  this 
without  following  our  present  course. 

"  We  propose  nothing  more  in  a  college,  at  first,  than 
the  division  of  the  courses,  —  the  scientific  department 
placed  under  a  man  like  Captain  Janes.  This  will  not  only 
release  some  of  us  who  have  been  teaching  these  secular 
subjects,  and  thus  add  largely  to  our  effective  force,  but 
it  will  form  a  beginning  of  what  will  be  for  all  coming 
time,  —  a  Christian  college.  At  the  same  time  we  must 
have  a  school  whose  every  teacher  will  feel  that  the  one 
thing,  the  great  thing,  without  which  all  others  are  nothing, 
is  the  leading  of  the  pupil  to  Christ;  a  school  where  each 
teacher  will  labor  and  pray  for  this  each  day  and  hour; 
where  they  will,  as  Captain  Janes  does,  teach  Christianity 
with  the  problems  of  Euclid.  It  is  only  from  such  a  school 
that  we  shall  secure  Christian  young  men  for  the  work  of 
the  ministry  in  Japan." 

The  winter  and  spring  of  1876  had  seen  a  steady  gain  in 
the  hold  of  Christianity  upon  the  city  of  Kyoto.  June  30th 
he  wrote,  "  We  have  now  six  preaching  places  and  five 
Sunday  schools  in  different  centers  of  the  city  and  over 
five  hundred  people  hear  the  Gospel  every  Sabbath.  We 
fixed  180  seats  in  our  house  for  last  Sabbath's  services 
and  most  of  them  were  filled.  We  have  an  inquiry  meeting 
at  our  house  every  Monday  evening.  This  week  ten  were 


166  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

present  and  all  prayed.  We  expect  to  organize  a  Church 
in  the  early  fall."  At  the  annual  mission  meeting  held  in 
Osaka,  May  30th,  it  was  decided  to  put  up  a  dormitory 
and  a  recitation  building  upon  the  land  owned  by  the 
Doshisha.  These  were  erected  during  the  summer  and 
were  ready  for  use  by  the  opening  of  the  fall  term.  The 
mission  was,  as  a  whole,  in  hearty  sympathy  with  the  new 
school,  but  the  obvious  difficulties  in  the  way  of  operating 
the  institution  in  a  city  where  foreigners  had  no  property 
or  residence  rights  appeared  to  some  a  reason  for  question- 
ing the  maintenance  of  the  Doshisha  in  Kyoto.  Moreover, 
the  exclusion  of  the  Bible  from  the  buildings  owned  by  the 
school,  even  though  Bible  classes  could  be  held  in  the 
adjoining  building,  rented  in  Mr.  Neesima's  name,  and  in 
the  homes  of  the  missionaries,  seemed  to  others  a 
concession  to  government  authority  which  nullified  the 
Christian  purpose  and  influence  of  the  Doshisha.  Anx- 
ieties and  criticisms  were  freely  expressed  in  more  than 
twenty  letters  addressed  to  Mr.  Davis  during  the  sum- 
mer. 

This  opposition,  though  in  most  cases  less  intense  than 
he  supposed  and  expressed  more  in  the  form  of  negative 
doubts  than  as  positive  convictions,  aroused  him  to  an 
unprecedented  degree.  If  he  accepted  more  than  his  share 
of  the  responsibility  for  meeting  such  criticism,  and  felt 
unduly  that  he  stood  alone  in  his  defence  of  the  Doshisha 
and  of  the  Kyoto  position,  we  can  hardly  wonder,  as  we 
consider  the  extent  to  which  he  stood  pledged  to  it  and  its 
policies.  He  had  just  passed  through  the  birth  travails  of 
an  infant  school;  he  had  for  ten  months  been  braced  to 
meet  the  attacks  of  enemies  who  threatened  its  existence; 
he  had  staked  all  upon  holding  the  position  to  which  his 
mission  had  assigned  him.  The  fact  that  he  had  taken  no 
step  beyond  that  authorized  by  his  mission,  and  the  con- 
sciousness that  he  saw  eye  to  eye  with  his  colleagues,, 


MOVING  MOUNTAINS  INTO  THE  SEA          167 

Messrs.  Learned  and  Neesima,  were  sources  of  strength 
and  he  went  resolutely  ahead. 

There  had,  however,  been  so  many  doubts  expressed,  some 
of  which  were  based  upon  misconceptions  of  the  facts,  that 
he  addressed  a  general  letter  to  the  mission.  "  Kyoto, 
Sept.  15th,  1876.  We  are  to  dedicate  our  new  Train- 
ing School  buildings  next  Monday  morning,  the  18th,  at  ten 
o'clock.  We  should  be  glad  if  those  who  hear  of  it  in 
time,  and  who  have  faith  enough  left  in  the  project,  would 
pray  with  us  and  for  us  and  for  the  Doshisha  at  that 
time.  .  .  .  The  mission  owns  these  buildings  in  the  name 
of  Japanese.  In  one  is  a  dormitory;  in  another  the  prin- 
cipal theological  branches  are  to  be  taught  and  morning 
prayers  held;  in  the  third  we  will  teach  exegesis  of  the 
Old  and  New  Testaments,  with  the  consent  of  the  pro- 
prietors of  the  school  and  the  authorities,  for  I  found  all 
the  Japanese  lions  were  chained  when  I  came  down  from 
Hieizan 1  yesterday.  Does  the  fact  that  two  of  these  build- 
ings are  owned  in  the  name  of  five  Japanese2  (the  Dosh- 
isha Trustees),  and  that  one  is  owned  in  the  name  of  one 
Japanese  (Mr.  Neesima),  alter  the  fact  that  the  Training 
School  is  held  in  them?  Is  not  the  school  a  unit  just  as 
truly  as  if  the  buildings  were  all  held  in  the  name  of 
five  Japanese,  or  all  in  the  name  of  one  Japanese? 2  Are 
the  buildings  the  school  at  all?  Socrates  did  not  think  so; 
our  Saviour  did  not  think  so  when  he  trained  his  dis- 
ciples; the  founders  of  Yale  College  and  of  many  other 
colleges  and  seminaries  at  home  did  not  think  so. 

"And  yet  we  are  told  that  we  have  no  Training  School; 
that,  as  a  mission,  we  could  be  brought  to  task  for  obtain- 
ing money  and  using  it  under  false  pretenses;  then  the 
movement  in  Kyoto  is  likened  to  the  Charge  of  the  Light 

1 "  Hieizan,"  a  famous  mountain  east  of  Kyoto,  formerly  the  stronghold  of  thou- 
sands of  militant  Buddhist  priests. 

*At  this  time,  no  property  outside  of  the  limited  concessions  of  the  treaty  ports 
could  be  owned  by  a  foreigner.  It  had  to  be  registered  in  the  name  of  a  Japanese 
and  legally  became  the  property  of  the  party  in  whose  name  it  was  registered. 


168  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

Brigade,  when  '  Somebody  blundered.'  There  is,  I  confess, 
some  aptness  in  this  illustration;  but  we  are  worse  off 
than  the  '  Six  Hundred  '  were.  They  had  not  cannon  be- 
hind them  until  they  turned  to  retreat,  but  we  have.  .  .  . 
If  the  Light  Brigade  had  taken  the  ramparts  on  three 
sides  of  them,  and  spiked  the  cannon,  it  would  not  have 
been  said  that  '  Somebody  blundered.'  This  is  what  we 
are  doing  and  expect  to  do.  To  the  soldier,  a  fire  in  the 
rear  is  most  demoralizing,  but  when  it  comes  from  the 
mission  that  ordered  us  forward,  you  should  not  be  sur- 
prised that  it  affects  us." 

He  then  reviewed  the  mission  decisions  which  had 
founded  and  sustained  the  Doshisha  in  Kyoto  and  had 
assigned  him  to  that  work.  He  pointed  out  that,  in  March 
it  had  approved  the  retention  of  the  school  in  Kyoto  and 
the  placing  of  two  more  families  there,  even  though  the 
Bible  was  temporarily  excluded  from  the  curriculum; 
further,  that  the  mission  had  unanimously  voted  to  put 
up  the  new  buildings  upon  this  basis. 

The  letters  were  sent  out,  there  was  a  general  with- 
drawal of  objections  and  the  dedication  took  place,  as  Mr. 
Davis  had  planned,  Monday,  the  18th  of  September.  He 
wrote  of  this  occasion:  "  It  was  the  day  of  my  life.  The 
Grand  Review  at  Washington  was  tame  compared  to  this. 
The  tempest  in  the  teapot  rapidly  subsided,  and  now  our 
school  is  moving  quietly  along.  Our  bell  is  an  old  Bud- 
dhist temple  bell 1  and  as  it  rings  out  its  minor  strains  in 
front  of  the  great  temples  near  by,  it  must  awaken  peculiar 
sensations  in  some  hearts." 

The  young  men  from  Kumamoto,  who  now  formed  nearly 
half  the  school,  were  disappointed  with  what  they  found. 
The  Doshisha  was  poorly  equipped  and  differently  organ- 
ized from  the  Kumamoto  school.  Some  of  them  talked  of 

» After  a  short  time  the  police  objected  to  the  ringing  of  this  bell,  because  of  the 
resemblance  of  its  tones  to  a  fire  alarm,  and  the  school  classes  were  called  together  by 
the  wooden  clappers,  used  by  night  watchmen  on  their  rounds. 


MOVING  MOUNTAINS  INTO  THE  SEA          169 

going  away.  Captain  Janes,  now  teaching  in  Osaka, 
visited  Kyoto  in  December  and  met  his  old  students  in 
Mr.  Davis'  home.  He  advised  them  to  be  patient  and, 
if  the  Doshisha  was  not  satisfactory,  to  remain  in  it  and 
make  it  what  they  wished  it  to  become.  He  told  them 
that  the  men  and  women  of  the  American  Board  Mission 
were  among  the  best  in  the  United  States,  and  that  they 
had  the  prayers  of  earnest  Christians  in  America  behind 
them.  They  all  remained. 

The  fifteen  men  of  the  graduating  class  were  without 
funds  and  were  given  teaching  in  the  lower  classes,  which 
they  carried  along  with  their  theological  work.  "  These 
fifteen  students  were  the  culled  men  in  a  class  of  seventy 
who  had  entered  Captain  Janes'  school  five  years  before. 
All  the  others  had  fallen  out,  and  these  men,  alone,  had 
persisted  through  to  graduation.  It  was  ho  easy  task  to 
teach  them,  especially  Theology.  Mr.  Neesima  assisted  in 
the  teaching.  Mr.  Learned,  also,  was  from  the  first  an 
efficient  teacher,  while  Mr.  Doane,1  and  Dr.  Taylor  taught 
part  time.  I  had  most  of  the  theological  teaching  to  do. 
I  made  it  a  rule  to  speak  English  out  of  the  classroom  and 
Japanese  in  the  classroom.  This  was  a  disappointment 
to  the  Kumamoto  men,  who  had  always  been  taught  in 
English  by  Captain  Janes.  I  felt,  however,  that  they 
needed  to  learn  these  great  truths,  which  they  were  to 
preach  to  the  masses,  in  their  own  language,  and  so  per- 
sisted in  using  it.  They  cared  nothing  for  the  consensus 
of  opinion  of  the  Christian  Church;  they  looked  at  Chris- 
tian Truth  for  the  first  time  and  from  an  Asiatic  stand- 
point. I  gave  them  a  synopsis  of  my  lectures  in  Theology 
in  English,  and  then  went  into  it  more  in  detail  in  the 
vernacular.  I  gave  them  about  half  the  time  to  ask  ques- 
tions and  to  discuss  among  themselves.  .  .  .  They  asked 

'Rev.  E.  T.  Doane,  a  missionary  of  the  American  Board  in  Ponape,  Micronesia, 
spent  two  years  in  Japan  for  the  purpose  of  regaining  his  health. 


170  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

me  questions,  every  day,  which  I  had  never  thought  of 
before,  and  the  three  years  in  which  I  had  them  as  pupils 
were  years  of  the  most  intense  study  for  me.  .  .  .  They  had 
been  prejudiced  against  the  study  of  Theology  by  their  old 
teacher  and  there  was  a  great  deal  that  they  would  not 
accept.  I  tried  to  be  patient  with  them,  but  looking  back 
upon  those  years,  it  seems  a  miracle  that  we  were  able  to 
hold  them  all  until  graduation." 

Mr.  Davis  was  early  impressed  with  the  wonderful  op- 
portunity presented  by  women's  education  in  Japan.  He 
had  earnestly  urged  the  American  Board  to  open  the  Kobe 
Girls'  School,  which  later  became  Kobe  College,  and  on 
going  to  Kyoto  it  was  his  desire  to  see  a  fully  equipped 
women's  department  in  the  Doshisha.  In  July,  1875,  while 
waiting  for  an  official  permit  to  enter  Kyoto,  he  wrote  to 
Boston:  —  "The  work  for  women  in  Japan  must  be  done 
by  women.  Miss  Dudley's  work  in  Sanda  and  the  villages 
around  shows  what  women  can  do  in  preaching  the  Gospel. 
Mr.  Yamamoto  told  me  the  other  day,  in  Kyoto,  that  they 
would  be  glad  to  have  a  Christian  Girls'  School  opened 
there  at  once.  No  woman's  ambition  could  rise  higher 
than  some  of  these  openings  which  are  waiting  here." 
He  felt  the  need  of  Christian  homes  for  the  pastors  and 
leaders  in  the  Christian  communities.  "  There  is  a  harvest 
going  to  waste  among  the  women  of  this  city.  The  Gospel 
is  being  preached  in  over  fifty  different  places  by  men,  but 
it  is  a  terribly  one-sided  affair.  These  very  young  men 
have  just  come  out  of  heathenism,  in  which  most  of  their 
mothers  and  sisters  remain.  Preachers  are  just  beginning 
to  see  that  the  Gospel  is  for  all,  male  and  female,  but 
they  do  not  know  how  to  reach  the  women  of  this  city, 
and  did  they  know  how,  the  usages  of  society  are  such  that 
they  could  not  do  it.  Schools  for  girls  as  well  as  for  men 
are  a  '  sine  qua  non  ' ;  without  them  we  cannot  train  the 
men  and  women  who  are  to  evangelize  the  nation.  There 


MOVING  MOUNTAINS  INTO  THE  SEA          171 

should  be  vigorous  boarding  schools  for  girls  in  Kobe, 
Osaka  and  Kyoto;  but  the  location  of  our  Training  School 
in  Kyoto  .  .  .  makes  the  establishment  of  such  a  school 
here  of  the  first  importance." 

The  Doshisha  Girls'  School  was  opened  early  in  February, 
1877,  in  Mr.  Davis'  home,  by  Miss  Starkweather  and  Mrs. 
Neesima.  The  hundred  rooms  of  the  dilapidated  palace 
occupied  by  the  missionary  family  were  well  adapted  for  a 
school.  The  daughter  of  a  nobleman,  a  brother  of  the 
Sanda  Daimio,  who  had  been  a  regular  attendant  at  the 
Sabbath  services,  became  the  first  student  of  the  school. 
With  the  growth  of  the  Christian  community  in  Kyoto, 
the  number  of  pupils  gradually  increased,  until  twenty 
were  living  in  the  old  "  yashiki,"  under  the  care  of  Miss 
Starkweather,  who  mothered  the  girls  in  her  own  rooms, 
sleeping  and  eating  with  them.  Many  applications  for 
admission  arising  from  extreme  destitution  among  the 
Christians  could  not  be  refused.  Secretary  Clark  was  in- 
clined to  consider  the  care  of  so  many  poor  girls  a  perilous 
venture.  Mr.  Davis,  however,  warmly  supported  Miss 
Starkweather's  course.  "If  we  wait  for  the  sons  and 
daughters  of  the  rich  to  be  sent  to  our  schools  to  be  con- 
verted, and  in  turn  go  out  to  convert  this  nation,  we  shall 
wait  till  the  opportunity  is  past.  We  have  now  in  our 
home  a  Girls'  School,  of  five  day  pupils  and  as  many 
boarders.  Last  summer  two  poor  men  who  had  become 
interested  in  the  Truth  died  asking  that  their  children 
might  be  brought  up  as  Christians.  In  each  family  was  a 
daughter.  The  mothers  were  very  poor  and  asked  us  to 
take  these  children  and  educate  them,  the  mothers  furnish- 
ing clothes  and  we  furnishing  food  and  teaching.  Just 
then,  one  of  the  Kumamoto  students,  a  boy  fourteen  years 
old,  came,  saying  that  his  father,  a  drunkard,  had  run  away 
with  all  the  family  effects  and  that  his  mother  and  seven 
sisters  under  eighteen  years  of  age  were  cast  off  and  in  a 


172  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

starving  condition.  He  was  earning  five  yen  a  month  for 
their  support  and  his  classmates  were  contributing  from 
their  poverty  two  yen  more.  Here  was  God's  call  to  go 
forward.  Our  hands  went  into  our  pockets  and  two  of  the 
sisters  were  helped  to  enter  the  school.  This  full  explana- 
tion to  the  Board  elicited,  unsought,  a  fund  for  use  in 
both  schools  for  indigent  worthy  students. 

A  wearisome  search  for  a  building  site  for  the  Girls' 
School  was  met  for  two  years  with  constant  opposition  and 
suspicion  from  officials  and  land  owners,  but  a  tract  of  five 
acres  was  finally  bought,  not  far  from  the  Doshisha.  The 
land  had  to  be  purchased  in  the  name  of  a  lumber  mer- 
chant who  lived  upon  it,  and  it  was  owned  in  his  name 
until  after  the  school  buildings  were  erected. 

Toward  the  end  of  1876  the  first  churches  were  organized 
in  Kyoto.  The  fifty-nine  Christians  were  divided  into 
three  groups,  centering  in  different  parts  of  the  city,  the 
idea  being  in  this  way  to  magnify  the  responsibility  of 
each  member  and  to  diffuse  the  influence  of  the  Christian 
movement.  The  First  Church  of  Christ  of  Kyoto  was 
formed  with  fifteen  members,  on  November  26th,  in  Mr. 
Learned's  home,  facing  the  imperial  park.  Mr.  Davis 
chose  as  the  theme  of  his  sermon  on  this  occasion  the 
prophetic  vision  of  the  swelling  tide  of  the  river  of  Ezekiel 
(Ezekiel  47),  a  text  which  he  used  thirty-one  years  later, 
at  Arima,  for  his  last  Mission  Meeting  sermon. 

December  first,  1876,  he  wrote  of  the  wonderful  progress 
of  the  year:  —  "It  is  now  a  year  since  we  opened  our 
Training  School  with  eight  scholars  and  a  regular  Sabbath 
preaching  service  with  six  hearers.  We  have  now,  beside 
Mr.  Neesima,  four  mission  families  with  permission  to 
remain  more  than  one  year.  We  have  had  the  privilege 
of  telling  the  Story  of  the  Cross  to  more  than  a  thousand 
people,  who  have  come  by  ones  and  twos  to  our  homes, 
and  of  preaching  to  crowds  on  the  Sabbath.  We  have 


MOVING  MOUNTAINS  INTO  THE  SEA          173 

erected  buildings  for  the  Training  School  and  have  them 
filled  with  seventy  young  men,  more  than  half  of  whom  are 
earnest  Christians,  preparing  for  Christian  work.  They  are 
preaching  in  forty  different  places  in  this  great  city  and  in 
two  out-stations,  seven  miles  away.  On  the  twenty-sixth 
of  November  we  organized  the  First  Church  of  Kyoto,  with 
fifteen  students  entering  into  covenant.  Yesterday,  another 
church  was  organized,  with  nine  students  and  twelve  city 
people  uniting  on  profession,  while  next  Sabbath,  in  still 
another  center,  a  third  church  will  start  with  an  initial 
membership  of  twenty.  On  the  twentieth  we  are  to  have 
a  praise  service,  inviting  all  the  Christians  in  this  part  of 
Japan  to  meet  with  us.  Forty-five  of  our  sixty-five  stu- 
dents are  earnest  Christians,  thirteen  heard  the  Truth  here 
for  the  first  time  and  nineteen  were  converted  in  Captain 
Janes'  school.  We  have  also  the  beginnings  of  a  girls' 
school.  Surely  the  Lord  hath  done  great  things  whereof  we 
are  glad.  I  am  holding  an  inquiry  meeting,  every  Monday 
night,  in  the  home  of  the  ex-Daimio  of  Tamba,  who  lives 
in  this  city.  He  prayed  in  public  for  the  first  time  last 
evening.  We  hope  to  organize  a  church  there  soon,  and 
another  at  a  center  where  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Taylor  are  work- 
ing." 

With  all  the  uncertainties  of  the  position  in  Kyoto,  and 
the  chances  of  a  reaction  which  might  at  any  moment 
wreck  the  school  and  drive  it  out  of  the  city,  he  continued 
to  have  confidence  in  the  intentions  and  ability  of  the 
imperial  government  to  hold  to  the  program  of  progress 
which  it  had  begun.  In  replying  to  fears  expressed  by  Dr. 
Clark  lest  Japan  was  undergoing  a  reaction  against  civil- 
ization, he  wrote  in  November,  1876: — "I  am  surprised 
that  you  consider  the  political  situation  unsettled  in  Japan 
and  in  Kyoto.  This  government  had  been  steadily  grow- 
ing stronger  for  eight  years.  It  has  introduced  the  post- 
office,  telegraph,  railroad,  and  lines  of  steamers  to  bind  the 


174  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

country  together,  and  has  suppressed  every  attempt  at  in- 
surrection. It  has  conquered  China  in  a  bloodless  war  and 
has  opened  Korea.  It  has  just  issued  an  order  for  the  cap- 
italization of  the  incomes  of  the  Samurai  class,  giving  bonds 
for  a  few  years'  income  at  once,  thus  greatly  relieving  the 
country.  The  fact  that  the  government  dared  to  issue  this 
order  is  one  proof  of  its  strength.  It  is  like  granite  to 
sand,  compared  with  Turkey,  and  if  Tilden  is  elected  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States,  we  will  consider  the  Japanese 
government  more  likely  to  be  stable  than  the  American. 
The  reaction,  of  which  you  speak,  is  not  apparent  here. 
The  opposition  met  in  Kyoto  was  natural.  The  fact  that 
we  have  secured  permission  to  open  the  school  and  for  three 
families  to  reside  here,  although  the  government  has  known 
of  the  opposition  and  has  feared  an  insurrection,  so  that 
prominent  men  have  been  arrested  on  suspicion  in  the  city, 
all  winter,  shows  that  it  has  a  strong  hand.  Japan  begins, 
by  government  order,  on  April  first,  1876,  to  keep  the 
Christian  Sabbath.  I  have  said,  again  and  again,  the  nation 
cannot  go  back;  it  is  going  ahead  in  real  progress,  faster 
and  faster  every  year." 

Notwithstanding  this  optimistic  view,  during  those  first 
years  in  Kyoto,  the  opposition  of  the  city  government  to 
the  Doshisha  was  expressed  in  every  possible  way.  Pass- 
ports for  new  teachers  were  repeatedly  refused  or  delayed 
upon  some  trifling  pretext.  If  a  foreign  teacher  unwittingly 
broke  a  rule  or  petty  law,  Mr.  Neesima  was  called  to  the 
castle,1  to  be  scolded  or  fined.  Building  permits,  property 
contracts,,  and  residence  extensions  were  denied  or  so  long 
delayed  as  to  seriously  cripple  the  work.  Finally,  land 
for  the  Girls'  School,  toward  which  three  thousand  dollars 
had  been  given,  could  not  be  found,  so  great  was  the  prej- 
udice against  selling  to  anyone  connected  with  Christianity. 

In  the  midst  of  these  critical  days,  the  order  came  from 

* The  seat  of  the  city  government. 


MOVING  MOUNTAINS  INTO  THE  SEA          175 

the  Kyoto  castle  that  all  houses  surrounding  the  Imperial 
Palace  should  be  torn  down  to  make  room  for  a  public 
park.  The  old  "  yashiki,"  housing  the  missionary's  family 
and  the  Girls'  School,  must  come  down  with  the  rest.  No 
house  in  the  city  could  be  rented;  money  would  scarcely 
be  voted  by  the  mission  "  ad  interim  "  for  a  permanent 
house  to  be  built  in  Kyoto.  "  Wife  and  I  prayed  over  the 
matter  all  summer  and,  finally,  in  September,  our  minds 
were  made  up  to  build.  We  did  not  know  where  we  could 
get  land  nor  where  the  money  was  coming  from,  but  we 
determined  to  go  as  far  as  we  could  and  to  trust  the  Lord 
for  the  rest.  I  had  seventy-six  dollars  in  the  United  States, 
and  I  ordered  that  sent  on.  We  lived  as  economically  as 
possible,  buying  but  little,  sending  to  San  Francisco  for  no 
supplies  that  fall,  thus  saving  all  the  salary  that  we  could. 
We  did  not  dare  look  for  land,  but  hearing  of  a  lot  for  sale 
west  of  the  park,  and  finding  a  two-story  house  for  rent 
opposite  this  lot,  I  asked  to  see  the  house  and  went  up- 
stairs where  I  could  look  over  into  the  lot  which  was  for 
sale.  I  saw  that  it  was  large  enough  to  put  a  house  upon, 
and  found  a  carpenter  who  was  willing  to  buy  it  and  hold 
it  for  the  school.  The  house  was  begun  in  October,  fin- 
ished in  February  and  cost,  all  told,  seven  hundred  and 
fifty  dollars."1 

The  new  home  was  of  ample  size,  simply  planned,  and 
built  of  the  cheapest  possible  material,  with  every  cost 
reduced  to  a  minimum.  It  not  only  provided  a  comfort- 
able home  for  the  family,  but  became  a  favorable  center 
for  evangelistic  work  for  the  neighborhood.  The  seal  of 
God's  blessing  was  placed  upon  this  home  from  the  begin- 
ning. "  We  opened  a  Sabbath  School  in  our  house  in  the 
early  evening,  followed  by  a  preaching  service.  This  went 
on  for  three  years,  and  with  the  exception  of  the  room 


is  house  was  later  purchased  from  Mr.  Davis  by  the  American  Board  and  be- 
came the  property  of  the  Mission. 


176  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

where  the  children  slept,  every  room  in  the  house,  includ- 
ing the  pantry,  was  often  occupied  by  a  class.  One  hun- 
dred and  thirty,  and  more,  assembled  in  the  dining  and 
sitting  rooms  to  hear  the  preaching." 

At  a  time  when  the  future  of  the  Doshisha  was  hanging 
in  the  balance,  the  building  of  this  home  went  far  toward 
giving  a  stability  to  the  enterprise  in  the  eyes  of  both  the 
mission  and  the  Japanese  officials.  The  steadfast  determi- 
nation of  the  missionary,  who  not  only  believed  in  the 
school  to  the  extent  of  putting  up  a  permanent  home,  but 
paid  for  it  from  his  own  slender  resources,  convinced  the 
Japanese  of  the  futility  of  further  resistance. 

At  the  mission  meeting  at  Arima,  in  the  summer  of  1878, 
the  well-worn  roots  of  the  Doshisha  plant  were  again  ex- 
humed for  examination.  The  two  wings  of  the  mission, 
the  one  in  favor  of  entire  self-support,  the  other  advocating 
complete  mission  control  of  the  school,  again  combined  to 
question  the  further  holding  of  Kyoto.  Outwardly,  the 
situation  had  not  improved;  permits  for  extensions  of  resi- 
dence had  been  refused;  Mr.  Doane  had  left  Japan;  Dr. 
Taylor,  who  had  been  forbidden  to  practice  medicine  in 
Kyoto,  since  his  passport  allowed  teaching  but  not  medical 
practice,  had  left  the  city  and  had  settled  in  Osaka.  Messrs. 
Learned  and  Davis  were  the  only  missionaries  that  were 
left  in  Kyoto.  But  through  those  previous  months  of 
cumulative  difficulty  and  in  the  face  of  the  rising  tide  of 
discouragement  over  the  Kyoto  situation  in  the  mission, 
the  faith  of  those  two  men  in  the  ultimate  outcome  of  the 
enterprise  remained  unshaken.  Their  confidence  in  their 
advisers  and  colleagues  in  the  Doshisha  had  been  growing; 
they  had  been  learning  the  temper  of  the  Japanese  officials, 
and,  more  than  all  else,  their  belief  that  the  Doshisha  was 
in  God's  hands,  and  that,  in  time,  the  "  divine  Factor  " 
would  accomplish,  in  its  own  way,  what  the  human  factor 
could  not  do,  continued  immovable. 


MOVING  MOUNTAINS  INTO  THE  SEA          177 

Of  the  Arima  meeting,  he  wrote:  "  I  well  remember  the 
moment  when  the  Committee  on  Schools  called  Mr.  Learned 
and  me  out,  separately,  and  talked  with  us,  Mr.  Learned 
first,  and  then  myself.  The  committee  asked  if  I  thought 
it  wise  to  try  to  hold  Kyoto.  I  replied  by  telling  the  story 
of  the  fight  at  Allatoona  Pass,  in  the  Civil  War,  where  one 
brigade  of  our  division,  under  General  Corse,  placed  in  a 
little  fort  to  guard  the  stores  of  Sherman's  Army,  met  the 
assaults  of  ten  thousand  of  Hood's  forces  for  six  hours,  and 
when  in  the  midst  of  the  carnage,  with  more  than  half  of 
the  Union  force  lying  dead  in  the  trenches,  General  Sher- 
man signalled  from  the  top  of  Kennesaw  Mountain,  twenty 
miles  away: — 'Hold  the  fort,  for  I  am  coming,'  General 
Corse  signalled  back:  — '  I  have  one  arm  and  one  jaw  left, 
and  can  whip  all  Hell  yet.'  I  told  them  that  was  the  way 
I  felt  about  Kyoto,  and  asked  if  they  had  any  more  ques- 
tions to  ask.  They  said:  —  'No,'  and  I  retired." 

It  is  not  surprising  that  a  man  of  such  a  spirit  should 
have  been  misunderstood  and  criticised  by  less  intense  and 
more  cautious  colleagues.  Though  unfair  motives  and 
methods  were  laid  at  his  door  by  a  few,  a  majority  of  the 
mission  admired  the  spirit  which  was  holding  Kyoto,  and 
recognizing  the  rapid  advances  of  the  Gospel  and  the  facts 
of  progress  to  which  the  Kyoto  station  pointed,  decided 
that  it  was  best  to  hold  on.  This  question  was  never 
opened  again. 


CHAPTER  XIII 
THE    UPPER    AND    NETHER    MILLSTONES 

THROUGH  the  formative  years  of  the  Christian  move- 
ment in  Japan  the  problem  of  the  self-support  of 
the  Japanese  Church  was  a  generally  controverted 
issue.  There  were  two  widely  contrasted  policies  advo- 
cated among  the  workers  in  Japan. 

On  one  side  it  was  held  that  in  order  to  develop  inde- 
pendence, self-reliance  and  the  spirit  of  self-sacrifice  among 
Japanese  Christians,  no  foreign  money  beyond  the  payment 
of  the  missionaries'  salaries  should  be  spent  by  the  Ameri- 
can Board.  It  was  urged  that  such  a  policy,  while  not 
producing  immediate  large  returns  in  institutions  and  con- 
verts, would,  in  the  long  run,  lay  foundations  of  efficiency, 
self-propagation  and  of  spiritual  power  in  the  Japanese 
Church.  Not  a  single  church  should  be  put  up  with  for- 
eign money;  better  to  wait  until  the  members  had  saved 
the  funds  needed  to  build;  not  a  pastor  or  evangelist 
should  be  placed  on  a  salary  guaranteed  from  outside 
sources;  not  a  school  building  or  a  teacher's  wage  should 
be  made  possible  by  foreign  gold.  Small  beginnings  but 
sure  foundations  was  the  admirable  motto  of  this  wing  of 
the  mission.  To  vindicate  this  policy  the  Osaka  Church,1 
built  up  to  entire  independence  through  the  faith  and 
heroic  efforts  of  the  Osaka  missionaries  and  Christians,  was 
justly  pointed  to  as  an  illustration  of  what  the  theory  of 
pure  self-support  could  accomplish. 

The  position  of  the  other  extreme,  representing  a  small 
but  aggressive  minority,  was  to  hold  every  phase  of  the 
Japanese  work  in  the  hands  of  the  mission.  It  was  op- 

»To  Rev.  Paul  Sawayama,  and  Rev.  Horace  Leavitt,  is  due,  in  large  part,  the 
credit  erf  this  splendid  example  of  an  indigenous  Japanese  church  of  these  early  days. 

178 


THE  UPPER  AND  NETHER  MILLSTONES     179 

posed  to  joint  ownership  of  buildings,  cooperative  pro- 
prietorship or  management  of  schools,  or  the  giving  of  any 
measure  of  independence  to  Japanese  churches.  Such  was 
the  Scylla  and  Charybdis  between  which  the  bark  of  the 
Kumi-ai  Church  was  piloted  through  those  eventful  years; 
such  the  upper  and  nether  millstones  of  conviction  be- 
tween which  not  only  the  Doshisha,  but  all  work  of  the 
American  Board,  was  forced  to  pass. 

However,  a  majority  of  the  mission  held  middle  ground. 
They  believed  that  the  church  should  be  sustained  and 
guided  through  the  formative  period  until  a  sense  of  its 
own  powers  and  needs  had  been  reached,  and  that  the  con- 
trol and  leadership  should  be  passed  over  to  the  Japanese 
as  fast  as  they  were  able  to  accept  such  responsibilities. 

The  urgency  of  the  present  hour  for  evangelizing  Japan 
appealed  to  Mr.  Davis  with  overwhelming  power  and  he 
naturally  leaned  toward  a  strong  financial  support  of  the 
American  Board's  work.  His  vivid  imagination,  his  sensi- 
tive appreciation  of  the  infinite  value  of  the  individual 
soul,  and  his  conviction  of  the  imminent  peril  of  unsaved 
men,  gave  him  scant  patience  with  a  policy  that  minimized 
the  church's  immediate  duty  to  save  the  men  and  women 
about  him  who  were  without  Christ.  He  wrote;  "Oh,  I 
am  sometimes  overcome  with  a  perfect  rush  of  feeling  as  I 
look  about  me  at  these  surging  millions  who  are  going 
down  without  a  knowledge  of  Him  who  is  mighty  to  save. 
It  comes  upon  me  with  crushing  weight  and  prevents  rest 
day  and  night."  With  this  sense  of  swiftly  passing  oppor- 
tunity, however,  was  an  appreciation  of  a  comprehensive 
program  of  self-support.  He  believed  in  helping  needy 
students,  but  never  without  an  equivalent  of  service  ren- 
dered; he  favored  helping  churches  in  the  support  of  pastors 
upon  a  diminishing  scale  of  subsidy;  the  supplementing 
of  the  resources  of  the  Home  Missionary  society  by  sending 
out  evangelists  when  the  Japanese  funds  failed.  Though 


180  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

admiring  the  spirit  of  the  self-supporting  Girls'  School  in 
Osaka,  be  believed  that  the  Japanese  resources  available 
for  the  necessary  educational  program  were  insufficient. 
"  Get  all  the  money  you  can  for  these  schools  from  the 
Japanese,"  he  said,  "  but  do  not  wait  for  that.  If  you  do, 
it  is  like  refusing  to  sow  the  seed  because  you  cannot  reap 
enough  seed  from  ground  which  has  never  yet  been  sown 
to  sow  other  fields." 

At  the  annual  mission  meeting  of  1877,  Mr.  Davis  read 
a  paper  upon  the  subject  of  self-support,  in  the  hope  of 
bringing  the  mission  to  a  united  policy.  .  .  .  "In  consider- 
ing the  various  objects  connected  with  evangelization,  the 
use  of  foreign  money  will  mainly  depend  on  three  questions: 
First:  Is  this  an  object  which,  like  the  pastorate,  is  to  be 
continuous,  or  is  it  temporary?  Second:  Is  it  an  object 
which,  like  the  pastorate,  is  broad,  i.e.,  which  will  be  found 
wherever  the  Gospel  goes  in  the  empire,  or  is  it  an  indi- 
vidual case,  or  does  it  represent  a  limited  number  of  cases? 
Third:  Is  it  an  object  which,  like  the  pastorate,  directly 
concerns  a  particular  church,  or  is  it  more  general?  It  is 
of  the  first  importance  to  put  the  objects  which  have 
length,  breadth  and  directness  upon  our  churches  as  fast 
as  possible.  Other  objects  which,  like  our  own  salaries, 
have  not  these  qualities  are  the  last  which  should  be  urged 
upon  the  churches.  In  addition  to  these  are  some  objects 
for  which  money  is  needed  that  have  only  one  or  two  of 
these  dimensions." 

Then  follows  an  enumeration  of  such  objects,  viz.,  general 
evangelistic  work,  Bible  and  tract  work,  support  of  needy 
students  and  teachers  in  schools,  medical  work,  etc.  Finally, 
objects  having  neither  of  the  dimensions,  as  the  newspaper, 
mission  school  buildings,  salaries  of  foreigners  in  schools, 
endowments,  salaries  of  the  teachers  of  missionaries,  and 
salaries  and  houses  of  missionaries.  "  Foreign  money  can 
be  used  for  the  last  six  objects,  with  less  detriment  than 


THE  UPPER  AND  NETHER  MILLSTONES      181 

if  used  for  churches,  pastors,  individual  church,  mission  and 
out-station  work.  It  seems  unwise  to  so  press  any  of  the 
last  objects  upon  the  churches  as  to  prevent  their  furnish- 
ing the  necessary  means  for  their  individual  growth.  .  .  . 
In  other  words,  let  us  press  upon  our  churches  the  assump- 
tion of  those  objects  which  have  three  dimensions  with 
the  greatest  urgency,  those  with  two  dimensions  next,  and 
so  on." 

He  presented  the  following  resolutions  to  the  mission  for 
consideration:  "I.  Resolved:  That  each  congregation  be 
led,  at  the  earliest  moment,  to  support  a  pastor,  to  pay 
the  rent  on  its  chapel,  to  build  its  own  church,  to  pay  the 
incidental  expenses  of  its  meetings  and  the  cost  of  its  own 
mission  work,  and  to  aid  its  own  young  men  and  women, 
who  are  in  Bible  training  schools.  II.  Resolved:  That 
the  churches  be  urged  to  organize  a  Missionary  society  for 
sending  evangelists  to  places  not  yet  occupied,  and  to  con- 
tribute as  liberally  as  possible  to  that  work.  ...  V.  Re- 
solved: That  the  churches  assume  the  work  of  the  prepara- 
tion and  circulation  of  Gospel  tracts,  and  also  the  circula- 
tion of  the  Scriptures  through  this  part  of  the  empire,  as 
soon  as  possible.  VII.  Resolved:  That  each  church 
should  be  urged  to  contribute  money  to  aid  in  the  education 
for  Christian  work  of  young  men  and  women,  other 
than  those  connected  with  its  own  membership,  and  to- 
ward the  running  expenses  of  the  Doshisha,  beginning  with 
the  salaries  of  the  Japanese  teachers,  said  funds  to  be  in 
charge  of  and  disbursed  by  the  Doshisha  Company,  so 
that,  as  soon  as  possible,  the  churches  may  assume  the 
whole  responsibility  for  the  running  expenses  of  the  school, 
except  the  salaries  of  the  foreign  teachers." 

The  mission  adopted  these  resolutions,  in  part;  Japanese 
Home  Missionary  Society  was  established  and  the  Do- 
shisha Company  organized  as  outlined,  and,  although  it 
was  too  early  to  act  upon  some  of  the  measures  relating  to 


182  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

the  full  independence  of  churches,  the  paper  became  the 
base  line  upon  which  the  mission,  as  a  whole,  built  through 
the  succeeding  years. 

Neither  of  the  extreme  wings  of  the  mission  was  satisfied 
with  the  financial  program  presented  in  this  paper.  There 
was  strong  opposition  to  the  provision  for  helping  needy 
students  and  for  subsidizing  evangelism.  There  were  at 
this  time  only  a  few  weak  churches,  struggling  to  main- 
tain their  position;  the  work  was  opening  in  every  direc- 
tion by  leaps  and  bounds;  there  were  many  calls  for 
evangelists  and  many  places  where  the  people  would  gladly 
hear,  yet  in  the  succeeding  year  it  was  voted  to  use  no 
foreign  money  to  support  theological  students  or  to  pay 
evangelists. 

In  the  Doshisha  was  a  class  of  fifteen  young  men,  the 
group  from  Kumamoto,  nearly  ready  to  graduate,  and  eager 
to  consecrate  themselves  to  evangelizing  their  people.  A 
member  of  the  Home  Missionary  Committee  met  the  class 
and  told  them  that  the  society  could  support  only  two  of 
them.  Mr.  Davis  wrote:  "  The  class  came  to  me  in  great 
trouble.  We  spent  an  hour  praying  and  talking  over  the 
matter,  and  I  finally  told  them  that  I  was  sure  that  the 
Lord  would  provide  some  way  for  them  to  preach  the  Gos- 
pel, to  trust  Him  and  go  ahead.  I  promised  to  divide  my 
last  crust  with  them,  before  they  should  fail  to  carry  out 
the  purpose  of  their  lives.  I  had  no  idea,  however,  how 
the  problem  was  to  be  solved.  After  praying  over  the 
matter  for  a  few  days,  I  wrote  a  letter  to  the  Board,  telling 
the  exact  facts.  I  did  not  criticise  the  mission  or  suggest 
any  way  out  of  the  difficulty.  In  a  month  the  mission  had 
a  cablegram  from  Boston:  —  'Hold  young  men  for  work; 
await  letter/  In  another  month  the  letter  came,  appoint- 
ing the  five  men  first  on  the  field  as  a  committee,  to  oversee 
evangelistic  work,  and  sending  two  thousand  dollars  for 
this  committee  to  use  for  that  work/'  It  seemed  to  Mr. 


THE  UPPER  AND  NETHER  MILLSTONES      183 

Davis  as  if  a  voice  had  spoken  to  him  from  Heaven  and 
he  was  thoroughly  amazed  at  the  results  of  his  letter. 

Dr.  Clark  wrote  that  the  Prudential  Committee,  on  re- 
ceipt of  his  letter,  had  been  greatly  troubled  and  had  taken 
this  action  to  save  to  the  work  the  first  graduating  class  of 
the  Doshisha.  The  mission  was  naturally  disturbed  that 
the  board  should  act  upon  the  advice  of  one  of  its  number, 
without  first  seeking  to  learn  the  views  of  the  mission  as  a 
whole,  but  the  committee  was  organized,  the  instructions 
of  the  Board  followed,  and  it  was  decided  to  go  ahead 
cautiously  and  to  write  a  mild  letter  of  protest  to 
Boston. 

A  man  of  intense  feeling  and  glowing  convictions,  Mr. 
Davis  had,  to  a  remarkable  degree,  the  power  of  kindling 
the  fires  of  his  convictions  in  others.  But  his  enthusiasms 
were  usually  balanced  by  the  array  of  hard  facts  which, 
rather  than  sentiment,  became  his  final  court  of  appeal. 
Few  men  could  feel  so  deeply,  retain  a  balanced  judgment, 
and  marshal  evidence  with  such  telling  effect.  In  the  face 
of  the  serious  retrenchment  in  the  work  of  the  mission, 
caused  by  the  panic  of  1873  and  the  subsequent  years  of 
financial  depression,  he  wrote  early  in  1878,  to  Dr.  Clark: 
—  "I  do  not  judge  the  action  of  the  Board;  reduction  was 
doubtless  necessary.  However,  I  do  not  believe  in  sending 
a  large  army  to  the  front,  feeding,  clothing  and  paying 
them,  but  making  their  number  so  large  that  next  to  noth- 
ing is  left  for  ammunition.  I  have  myself,  as  a  soldier, 
been  put  upon  half  rations  of  food  and  even,  for  a  short 
time,  upon  no  rations,  but  I  never  before  saw  an  army  in 
the  field  put  upon  half  rations  of  ammunition.  Frequently 
eighty,  or  even  one  hundred  and  twenty,  rounds  were  issued 
to  each  man,  instead  of  the  usual  forty,  but  never  five  or 
twelve  rounds  to  a  man,  in  front  of  the  enemy  in  a  great 
campaign.  Better  it  would  be  to  recall  some  of  us  to  work 
at  the  commissariat,  so  that  enough  funds  may  be  left  for 


184  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

the  rest  of  the  work.  It  is  only  as  I  look  up  that  I  see 
light." 

Another  example  of  his  unusual  power  of  appeal  occurred 
the  next  year,  when  the  Board  was  forced  to  reduce  its 
allowances  to  Japan  to  the  point  of  cutting  down  every 
branch  of  the  work.  He  wrote  an  article  for  the  "  Ad- 
vance," describing  the  critical  nature  of  the  situation  and 
stating  that  he  had  sent  in  his  resignation  to  the  Board,  in 
order  that  his  salary  might  be  applied  to  help  save  the 
work  unless  some  other  means  were  found.  This  letter 
brought  an  instant  and  striking  response.  A  man  in  mod- 
erate circumstances  in  Illinois  sent  $500.  Another  sent 
ten  dollars  which  he  had  been  saving  to  use  for  visiting  his 
children.  Still  another  aged  farmer  wrote: — (sic)  "I  red 
your  letter  in  the  '  Advance,'  and  have  gave  it  some  thought 
and  the  result  is  I  send  you  $100.00  to  lay  out  in  your 
Master's  service.  You  are  not  accountable  to  any  one  but 
your  Master  how  you  lay  it  out.  I  had  a  little  laid  past 
for  the  rainy  day,  but  I  thought  best  to  use  this  now  and 
trust  God  for  the  future."  When  asked  to  let  the  money 
go  through  the  Boston  Treasurer,  he  said: — "I  had  in- 
tended the  money  to  be  sent  to  Mr.  Davis  as  he  felt  best 
on  financial  affairs;  it  might  help  show  him  the  Lord  will 
provide.  He  can  unlock  the  hearts  of  men;  He  opens  and 
none  can  shut.  Now  I  leave  it  with  you  to  act  for  the 
Master,  for  this  is  a  donation  to  Mr.  Davis."  This  money, 
placed  in  the  hands  of  the  station,  was  instrumental  in 
saving  considerable  work  already  begun  in  the  districts 
around  Kyoto. 

His  diary  makes  frequent  mention  of  the  amazing  ways 
in  which  the  Truth  was  spreading.  "  I  went  yesterday  to 
Otsu,  at  the  request  of  a  judge  whom  I  had  casually  met, 
to  speak  to  a  group  of  twenty  lawyers.  We  had  a  most 
interesting  interview  of  two  hours.  They  want  to  hear  the 
Gospel  every  Sabbath.  Six  months  ago  Mr.  Neesima 


THE  UPPER  AND  NETHER  MILLSTONES      185 

sent  some  tracts  to  the  prisoners  in  the  provincial  gaol  at 
Otsu.  One  man  became  greatly  interested  and  taught  the  rest. 
A  few  days  ago  a  fire  broke  out  in  the  prison,  and  instead 
of  trying  to  escape,  as  usual,  the  prisoners  helped  to  put 
out  the  fire.  The  wardens  inquired  the  cause  of  such 
strange  conduct,  and  on  being  told  it  was  the  spirit  of 
Christianity,  released  the  man  who  had  taught  the  others 
and  asked  for  more  such  books  for  the  prisoners."  The 
released  man  devoted  himself  to  work  for  ex-convicts,  es- 
tablishing a  school  for  unfortunates,  in  which  Messrs. 
Neesima  and  Davis  gave  regular  Christian  instruction  for 
some  time.  "  One  of  our  students  sent  a  copy  of  Martyn's 
'  Evidences  of  Christianity  '  and  a  year's  subscription  to 
our  paper  to  a  group  of  teachers  who  live  over  six  hundred 
miles  north  of  Kyoto.  They  were  Confucian  materialists. 
Now  they  say  that  they  are  Christians  and  plead  for  a 
missionary  to  come  to  teach  and  baptize  them."  The 
young  men  who  have  been  learning  English  in  the  anti- 
Christian  school  are  beginning  to  come  around  us,  appar- 
ently gratified  that  they  are  received  kindly  at  our  house, 
and  I  think  we  shall  have  quite  a  class  of  them  next  term 
in  l  Line  upon  Line/  perhaps,  making  the  wrath  of  man  to 
praise  the  Lord  through  some  of  them." 

The  last  official  opposition  to  the  teaching  of  the  Bible 
in  the  Doshisha  occurred  during  the  spring  of  1879.  One 
morning  two  officials  of  the  Kyoto-Fu  visited  the  class  in 
Theology,  which  was  studying  the  New  Testament  with  Mr. 
Davis.  After  listening  a  few  minutes  one  of  the  officers 
took  the  Bible  from  Mr.  Davis,  looked  at  the  title,  handed 
it  back  and  went  away.  Soon  after,  Mr.  Neesima  was 
called  to  the  governor's  office  and  asked  why  he  was 
allowing  the  Bible  to  be  taught  in  the  school.  He  replied 
that  he  did  not  know  of  any  other  system  of  morality 
equal  to  that  which  the  Bible  contained,  and  that  he 
wished  to  found  his  school  on  the  best  moral  system. 


186  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

The  Kyoto-Fu,  at  this  time,  instructed  the  mayors  of 
the  city  wards  to  advise  the  people  to  keep  away  from 
preaching  places  and  the  houses  of  the  missionaries,  since 
they  had  religions  of  their  own  which  were  good  enough. 
But  in  spite  of  these  eddies  in  the  current,  the  permission 
for  a  five-year  extension  of  Mr.  Learned 's  passport  and  the 
granting  of  that  of  Dr.  Gordon  was  proof  of  the  firm  sup- 
port of  the  central  government.  Commenting  upon  the 
action  of  the  city  mayors,  Mr.  Davis  said:  —  "Some  will 
be  afraid  and  stay  away,  some  will  laugh  and  some  will 
have  their  curiosity  awakened  to  come  and  listen,  and  the 
Truth,  as  it  is  in  Jesus,  will  go  on  conquering  and  to  con- 
quer. .  .  .  There  is  reason  to  believe  that  we  have  seen 
our  darkest  days  here." 

As  the  time  drew  near  for  the  Kumamoto  band  to  grad- 
uate, they  earnestly  requested  to  be  ordained  to  the  min- 
istry together,  as  a  fitting  culmination  of  their  seven  years 
of  fellowship.  Mr.  Davis  firmly,  but  sympathetically,  op- 
posed this  course.  He  believed  that  the  disparity  of 
numbers  between  the  ordained  pastors  in  the  field  and  this 
large  class  would  make  the  work  appear  that  of  the  mission, 
rather  than  of  the  Japanese  church.  He  felt  the  necessity 
of  showing  the  school,  the  churches  and  the  non-Christian 
Japanese  that  the  movement  was  essentially  a  Japanese 
movement,  and  not  one  superimposed  from  abroad.  He 
urged  patience  and  the  policy  of  waiting  for  the  call  of 
some  local  church  before  ordination. 

One  unforeseen  result  of  the  strong  evangelistic  policy 
followed  from  Kyoto  and  the  Doshisha  as  a  center  was  the 
phenomenal  growth  of  groups  of  Christians,  near  and  far, 
who  desired  to  be  organized  into  churches,  before  men 
were  ready  to  minister  to  them.  In  a  majority  of  cases 
groups  of  believers  did  not  realize  their  need  of  pas- 
tors, and  a  situation  somewhat  analogous  to  the  early 
church  of  the  Roman  Empire  arose.  The  people  had  never 


THE  UPPER  AND  NETHER  MILLSTONES     187 

seen  a  ministry;  in  places,  even,  all  the  members  of  a 
Christian  band  felt  called  upon  to  preach;  why  should 
they  have  a  pastor?  They  had  found  Christ  and  banded 
together  without  one;  why  cooperate  with  the  Doshisha 
in  using  its  men?  Churches  without  pastors  were  the  rule, 
in  this  period;  those  with  regularly  ordained  pastors  the 
exception.  It  was  a  situation  which  required  the  patience 
and  resourcefulness  of  all  concerned.  "If  we  could  get 
the  example  before  the  people  and  before  the  young  men 
in  our  school,  of  half  a  dozen  active,  successful  pastors  who 
are  supported  by  their  churches,  I  should  almost  feel  as  if 
we  had  passed  through  Jordan  to  possess  the  Promised 
Land." 

To  meet  this  difficulty,  as  well  as  to  provide  for  the 
training  of  lay  workers  and  pastors  already  in  the  field 
who  were  without  formal  training,  a  three  months'  course 
in  the  vernacular  was  arranged.  This  offered  biblical  in- 
struction, the  rudiments  of  Theology,  Church  History  and 
Homiletics,  with  special  courses  aimed  at  meeting  the  prac- 
tical difficulties  experienced  by  this  class  of  men.  The  plan 
proved  a  great  success  and,  while  not  detracting  in  the 
least  from  the  dignity  of  the  full  theological  curriculum, 
largely  increased  the  efficiency  of  many  older  workers  who 
lacked  a  thorough  education.  Other  obvious  advantages 
were  the  quickening  of  the  spiritual  life  of  the  Doshisha 
through  the  presence  of  such  earnest  men;  the  emphasis 
which  their  presence  placed  upon  the  importance  of  prep- 
aration for  the  ministry;  the  opening  of  the  eyes  of  the 
churches  to  the  need  of  trained  pastors  and  evangelists; 
the  bringing  of  the  Doshisha  prominently  before  all  the 
churches  and  giving  them  a  proprietary  interest  in  the 
school,  and,  finally,  in  satisfying  those  critics  of  the  Dosh- 
isha who  objected  to  the  elaborate  preparation  in  English 
and  Science  required  of  its  graduates.  Mr.  Davis  was  jubi- 
lant over  the  success  of  this  vernacular  course:  "  The 


188  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

eagerness  of  these  twenty  men  to  get  all  they  can  of  the 
truth  in  three  months  is  indescribable.  Seven  of  us  are 
doing  all  that  is  possible  for  them  in  school  and  out.  I 
feel  it  a  great  honor  and  privilege  to  teach  this  class." 

The  first  commencement  exercises  of  the  Doshisha  were 
held  in  the  little  chapel  of  the  first  building,  improvised 
by  throwing  together  two  recitation  rooms.  All  the  mission 
and  many  members  of  neighboring  churches  and  friends  of 
the  school  were  present.  Each  of  the  graduating  class  of 
fifteen  presented  an  essay  or  an  oration.  Mr.  Davis  had 
no  part  in  the  exercises,  but  busied  himself  all  day  with 
seating  guests  and  receiving  strangers.  Mr.  Yamamoto 
made  the  graduating  address,  while  Mr.  Neesima,  as  presi- 
dent of  the  school,  presented  the  diplomas. 

Mr.  Davis'  relationship  to  the  young  men  of  this  class, 
who  had  been  placed  in  his  charge  by  Captain  Janes,  was 
unusually  close.  For  three  years  he  had  given  them  the 
best  of  the  powers  of  his  mind  and  heart.  He  had  wrestled 
for  them  in  long  hours  of  supplicatory  prayer,  that  they 
might  be  held  to  the  fundamentals  of  the  Truth.  He  had 
wrestled  with  them  in  the  classroom  and  in  his  study  over 
the  main  theological  dogmas;  together  they  had  searched 
the  Scriptures  for  light  upon  questions  that  troubled  them. 
He  had  opened  his  heart  and  his  home  to  them,  as  a  father 
or  elder  brother,  lavishing  a  wealth  of  sympathy,  counsel 
and  friendship  upon  them,  as  a  group  and  as  individuals, 
that  had  cemented  them  to  him  with  more  than  ordinary 
bonds.  He  was  proud  of  these  men ;  proud  of  the  spirit  they 
had  shown,  of  their  history  and  of  their  manifest  ability. 

However,  trained  in  the  broad,  independent  atmos- 
phere of  the  Kumamoto  school  and  having  entered  the 
Christian  life  with  scant  acquaintance  or  respect  for  theo- 
logical dogma,  creed  or  history,  it  was  inevitable  that  these 
bold,  inquiring  minds  should  chafe  under  the  New  England 
theology  given  them  by  their  enthusiastic  teacher.  A 


THE  UPPER  AND  NETHER  MILLSTONES      189 

majority  of  the  class  differed  absolutely,  from  Mr.  Davis, 
on  not  a  few  of  the  truths  which  he  considered  funda- 
mental. 

Many  are  the  stories  that  have  come  down  from  these 
days  of  the  conflicts  which  took  place  in  the  little  theo- 
logical building,  "  standing  in  the  middle  of  a  mulberry 
field."  The  subject  of  the  Atonement  was  the  occasion  of 
a  prolonged  debate  between  the  foreign  teacher  and  his 
fifteen  theological  students.  One  of  them,  today  a  leading 
Tokyo  pastor,  says:  —  "One  day  we  came  into  a  debate 
with  Dr.  Davis  on  the  Atonement  ;  no  matter  how  minutely 
he  argued  he  could  not  convince  us.  He  threw  himself 
very  earnestly  into  this  debate,  which  lasted  thirty  days, 
praying  and  studying  every  night  over  the  matter.  Argu- 
ment upon  argument  we  met;  theory  after  theory  we  re- 
futed. Finally,  though  we  did  not  change  our  opinion, 
we  finished  the  discussion  by  mutually  agreeing  that  Christ 
devoted  his  life  to  men  as  a  mother  to  her  children.  At 
the  end  of  this  discussion  Mr.  Davis  became  ill.  Yet  with 
all  these  disputes  and  arguments,  the  affection  between 
teacher  and  student  increased  day  by  day  and  lasted  their 
long  lifetime." 

Another  student  of  the  same  class  says:  —  "I  did  not 
consent  entirely  to  his  theological  standpoint,  nor  did  I 
have  much  interest  in  the  attitude  of  his  lecturing,  but  his 
vivid  face  charmed  my  heart.  When  he  explained  Christ's 
death  for  humanity,  his  face  was  shining  and  his  eyes  were 
wet  with  tears.  Therefore  I  felt  that  his  lectures  did  not 
come  from  his  brain,  but  from  his  heart.  His  theology,  in- 
deed, was  with  blood  and  tears." 

When  a  friend  expressed  surprise  that  he  had  not  been 
able  to  guide  more  successfully  the  Kumamoto  Band  into 
orthodox  paths,  Dr.  Davis  replied: — "The  teaching  of 
that  class  was  like  the  farmer  in  the  West,  who  hitched 
two  wild  colts  to  a  harrow  and  set  out  to  cultivate  the 


190  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

field.  To  hold  them  back  or  guide  them,  as  he  wished, 
was  utterly  impossible.  So  he  just  held  onto  the  reins,  and 
was  dragged  about  the  field,  but  whenever  the  harrow 
caught  on  a  stump,  and  the  team  thus  came  abruptly  to 
a  halt,  he  would  shout  '  Whoa,'  at  the  top  of  his  voice."  . .  . 

"  About  a  year  before  they  graduated,  a  professor  of 
Hebrew  from  England  was  stopping  for  a  week  with  me, 
and  at  school  prayers  he  was  struck  with  the  long,  unkempt 
hair  and  shabby  clothes  of  the  Kumamoto  men,  for  the 
students  from  the  provinces  prided  themselves  on  their 
rough  appearance.  .  .  .  '  Well,'  he  said,  *  in  England,  in 
such  a  school  as  this,  the  students  are  compelled  to  wear  a 
neat  uniform  and  when  they  come  into  chapel  or  recitation 
room,  they  always  make  a  bow  to  their  teachers.'  I  then, 
gave  him  the  story  of  this  class  of  fifteen  and  ended  by 
saying  that  I  felt  much  more  like  taking  my  hat  off  to 
them  than  like  compelling  them  to  make  a  bow  to  me." 

He  could  not  bear  to  see  this  beloved  class,  most  of 
whom  were  lacking  financial  resources,  enter  the  ministry 
without  the  proper  tools  for  work,  and  as  a  result  of  a 
letter  which  he  wrote  to  Joseph  Cook  of  Boston,  telling 
the  history  of  the  Kumamoto  band  and  their  need  of 
adequate  Christian  literature,  a  full  set  of  "  Saturday 
lectures  upon  Science  and  Christianity  "  (at  this  time  mak- 
ing a  profound  impression  in  New  England)  was  pre- 
sented by  Mr.  Cook  to  each  man  in  the  class.  He  also 
raised  a  fund  of  four  hundred  dollars,  half  of  which  he 
gave  himself,  to  supply  the  class  with  commentaries,  dic- 
tionaries and  the  nucleus  of  a  working  library. 

The  history  of  the  Kumi-ai  Church  in  Japan  for  the  next 
fifteen  years  could  largely  be  written  from  the  work  of 
this  initial  class  of  the  Doshisha.  The  money  that  the 
Board  sent  out  for  evangelistic  work  enabled  the  mission 
to  set  many  of  these  men  at  once  into  the  field.  Though 
less  than  half  the  class  entered  the  ministry,  the  experience 


THE  UPPER  AND  NETHER  MILLSTONES      191 

of  some  of  them  reads  like  apostolic  history;  new  fields 
entered,  churches  of  four  and  five  hundred  members  built 
up,  and  whole  surrounding  districts  evangelized.  Three  of 
the  class  were  retained  as  teachers  in  the  Doshisha,  and 
five  of  them  became  pastors  of  prominent  churches,  of 
whom  Messrs.  Ebina  and  Kozaki  of  Tokyo  and  Miyagawa 
of  Osaka  rank  among  the  foremost  leaders  of  the  Chris- 
tian movement  of  the  empire. 

Of  his  work,  Mr.  Davis  wrote  in  September,  1877:  "  I 
meet,  personally,  most  of  our  students,  gathered  from  over 
twenty  provinces,  many  of  whom  have  heard  nothing  of 
Christianity.  I  try  to  interest  them,  hear  their  joys  and 
sorrows  and  help  them  with  counsel  and  sympathy.  I  give 
Theological  instruction  to  the  advanced  classes  in  the  ver- 
nacular, which  contains  but  few  Theological  terms,  and 
this  is  not  easy  work.  Our  force  of  teachers  is  so  small 
that  we  must  combine  classes  and  rotate  ourselves  around 
the  several  chairs;  this  year  filling,  for  example,  the  chairs 
of  Apologetics,  Systematic  Theology  and  Old  Testament 
Exegesis;  next  year  taking  Pastoral  Theology,  Homiletics 
and  New  Testament  Exegesis,  etc.  Moreover,  the  school 
is  not  the  whole  of  our  work.  Our  house  is  near  the  cen- 
ter of  a  city  of  300,000  people,  and  hundreds  come,  a  few 
to  inquire  about  the  '  Way,'  but  more  from  curiosity  to  see 
the  foreign  home.  An  art  I  have  been  trying  to  learn  for  seven 
years  is  never  to  be  too  busy  to  stop  and  see  these  callers, 
nor  out  of  patience  while  they  stay,  hour  after  hour,  utterly 
unconscious  of  the  value  of  time,  while  you  would  not 
sell  yours  for  a  dollar  a  minute.  Then  our  house  is  a 
chapel,  filled  on  the  Sabbath  with  two  Sabbath  schools,  a 
preaching  service  and  an  inquiry  meeting.  A  prayer  meet- 
ing is  held  on  two  evenings  and  a  women's  meeting  one 
afternoon.  We  also  have  a  company  of  young  men  who  go 
out  into  country  towns  around,  and  little  praying  bands 
are  springing  up  in  these  places,  needing  care  and  teaching 


192  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

to  fit  them  to  be  crystallized  into  churches.  In  the  midst 
of  this  work,  we  are  trying  to  find  a  few  minutes  each  day 
for  the  preparation  of  Gospel  tracts,  books  and  commen- 
taries, of  which,  as  yet,  there  are  few.  Saturday  is  theo- 
retically, and  often  practically,  devoted  to  a  mountain 
ramble.  Too  busy  to  be  anything  but  happy." 

The  nature  of  the  situation  is  brought  out  in  his  appeal 
to  Boston  that  Dr.  Gordon  be  sent  to  teach  in  the  Dosh- 
isha:  "  Doshisha  is  growing  in  numbers  and  in  influence 
and  is  known  throughout  the  empire  as  '  The  Bible  School.' 
Nothing  but  serious  mistakes  on  our  part  can  prevent  it 
from  becoming  a  great  power  for  the  Kingdom.  We  are 
giving  nearly  all  of  the  scientific  and  English  teaching  to 
the  advanced  pupils  and  are  putting  our  own  strength  upon 
the  Biblical  teaching,  but  we  are  not  sufficient  for  these 
things.  With  all  the  other  calls  we  find  our  strength  lim- 
ited. .  .  .  We  must  have  help  here  if  this  school  is  to  go 
on.  A  new  man  will  not  do.  We  must  teach  the  Bible 
in  the  vernacular.  We  set  our  faces  like  flints  against 
teaching  this  in  English.  Mr.  Gordon  has  the  language  and 
is  in  full  sympathy  with  the  school  and  is  just  fitted  for 
such  a  place,  for  he  has  the  rare  faculty  of  winning  young 
men.  His  influence  would  be  very  great  and  he  would  re- 
lieve me  more  and  do  better  service  than  any  other  man 
that  can  come." 

Dr.  Gordon's  twenty  years  of  service  in  the  Doshisha, 
which  began  at  this  time,  more  than  fulfilled  the  out- 
spoken convictions  of  his  colleague,  but  the  relief  was  too 
late  to  prevent  the  collapse  which  had  for  some  time  been 
threatening  Mr.  Davis.  He  came  to  the  summer  of  1879 
in  a  state  of  nervous  exhaustion,  accompanied  by  insomnia 
and  a  crushing  sense  of  insufficiency  for  the  task.  In  the 
winter  of  1879,  upon  the  advice  of  his  medical  colleagues, 
who  feared  congestion  of  the  brain,  he  decided  upon  a  trip 
to  China. 


THE  UPPER  AND  NETHER  MILLSTONES      193 

The  month  in  China  proved  a  relief,  but  not  sufficient 
to  cure  the  irregularity  of  pulse  nor  the  pain  at  the  base 
of  his  brain.  The  rest  of  the  following  summer  did  not 
materially  change  his  condition,  but  still  he  could  not  bear 
the  thought  of  a  long  separation  from  the  work  and  deter- 
mined to  try  to  rest  in  Japan.  A  month's  stay  at  Hakone 
Lake  with  his  family  was  followed  by  the  picturesque  return 
to  Kyoto  by  the  "  Nakasendo,"  or  inland  mountain  road, 
where  they  travelled  by  turns  in  "  jinricksha,"  "  kago,"  1  on 
horseback,  cowback,  and  even  packed  the  children  over  some  of 
the  passes  on  the  backs  of  coolies.  He  next  tried  six  weeks  of 
travel  in  the  southern  island  of  Shikoku  and  Kyushiu,  where 
he  attempted  no  missionary  work  beyond  securing  the 
address  of  a  bookstore  or  a  teacher  in  each  town  visited. 
To  these  persons  he  sent  packages  of  Christian  literature. 
Years  later,  when  regular  work  had  been  organized  in  those 
districts,  he  learned  of  individuals  whom  this  literature  had 
interested  in  Christianity  and  who  had  entered  the  church. 
Finally,  in  November,  upon  the  advice  of  the  veteran  mis- 
sionary, Dr.  Luther  H.  Gulick,  backed  by  the  physicians 
of  the  mission,  he  was  led  to  see  the  danger  of  further  tem- 
porizing with  his  condition  and  decided  to  leave  Japan  for 
a  prolonged  rest  in  Europe  and  America. 

On  January  first,  1881,  the  family  sailed  for  Naples, 
via  Suez.  From  Italy,  he  wrote:  "The  momentous  ques- 
tion now  rises  how  a  man  with  one  hundred  dollars  salary 
a  month  can  live  as  a  man  who  has  five  hundred  a  month. 
We  have  finally  decided  that  this  conundrum  is  like  the  old 
one,  '  How  can  thirteen  horses  be  put  into  twelve  stalls?' 
that  it  cannot  be  done."  So  it  turned  out  that  during 
their  eight  months  in  Europe  this  missionary  family  did  not 
once  enter  a  hotel,  but  stopped  at  inexpensive  pensions  or, 
more  often,  in  furnished  rooms  with  the  privilege  of  doing 
their  own  marketing  and  cooking.  Here  the  children,  aged 

1  Light  bamboo  palanquin  carried  by  two  men, 


194  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

nine,  seven  and  six,  were  installed  with  picture-books  and 
paint  boxes,  while  the  parents  studied  the  art  galleries  and 
explored  the  churches  and  museums  of  the  great  cities. 
The  summer  found  them  settled  in  a  partially  ruined  but 
delightful  "  schloss  "  in  the  Bernese  Oberland,  from  which 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Davis  made  occasional  excursions  into  the 
higher  Alps. 

Various  were  the  economies  practiced  to  solve  the  enigma 
of  expenses.  I  remember  the  military  precision  with  which 
my  father  marshalled  his  family  into  a  luggage  brigade 
upon  alighting  at  a  European  railway  station.  Each  mem- 
ber was  entrusted  with  responsibility  for  certain  pieces  of 
baggage,  which  he  was  instructed  to  let  out  of  his  posses- 
sion under  no  possible  circumstance  and  to  "  defend  with 
your  life."  Thus  equipped,  even  down  to  the  little  six- 
year-old  with  the  family  medicine  chest  and  umbrella  roll, 
the  missionary  battalion  was  put  on  the  march  to  the  near- 
est pension,  to  the  utter  rout  of  the  baggagemen  and  the 
amusement  of  the  passers-by.  My  father  did  the  market- 
ing and  picked  up  a  working  knowledge  of  Italian,  French 
and  German,  which  would  have  been  impossible  had  we 
travelled  in  a  more  conventional  style.  Once  I  recall  the 
whole  family,  seated  upon  the  baggage  in  an  express  wagon, 
being  driven  across  a  German  city  to  make  a  close  railway 
connection,  while  my  first  voyage  down  the  Rhine  will  be 
always  associated  with  the  third-class  deck  where  the 
missionary  family  rode,  and  the  crates  of  geese  and  ducks 
upon  which  we  children  gaily  sat  and  watched  the  storied 
castles  glide  by. 

These  were  some  of  the  means  by  which  the  impossible 
was  accomplished  and  we  were  treated  to  our  first  vision 
of  the  wonders  of  the  Old  World.  Nor  do  I  recall  that  it 
seemed  a  hardship,  though  our  mother,  who  had  not  been 
reared  to  such  economies,  may  have  had  thoughts  all  her 
own.  It  was  a  grand  game,  and  my  father,  who  had  long 


THE  UPPER  AND  NETHER  MILLSTONES      195 

since  thrown  off  the  burden  of  Kyoto  problems,  entered 
so  heartily  into  the  humor  of  every  situation  and  feasted 
so  deeply  upon  the  artistic  and  scenic  glories  around  him, 
that  he  seemed  like  a  new  man  and  we  all  caught  the  infec- 
tion of  his  spirit.  The  spot  in  England  which  impressed  him 
most  deeply  was  the  simple  stone  in  the  aisle  of  Westmin- 
ster Abbey,  placed  over  the  dust  of  Livingstone's  body,  with 
the  three  words,  "  Missionary,  Explorer,  Philanthropist." 

The  eight  months  of  travel  had  brought  a  substantial 
rest  to  Mr.  Davis'  nerves,  but  had  not  materially  relieved 
the  pain  at  the  base  of  the  brain.  On  arrival  in  New 
York,  he  went  immediately  to  Philadelphia  to  consult  Dr. 
S.  Weir  Mitchell.  This  nerve  specialist  found  nothing 
organically  wrong  and  advised  quiet  location,  six  months 
of  complete  rest,  twelve  hours'  sleep  a  day,  and  plenty  of 
good  food.  The  only  exceptions  to  this  program,  rigidly 
observed,  were  his  attendance  at  a  class  reunion  at  Beloit 
College,  where  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity  was  con- 
ferred upon  him,  and  his  speech  at  the  Annual  Meeting  of 
the  American  Board  in  Portland,  Me.  At  this  meeting, 
Mr.  Davis  was  asked  to  speak  upon  the  press  of  the  work 
in  Japan,  the  inadequacy  of  Japanese  funds,  alone,  to 
accomplish  the  program,  and  the  need  of  more  help  from 
America.  The  issue  of  self-support  in  Japan  was  still  a 
live  one  in  the  Board,  and  his  appeal  for  an  advance  all 
along  the  line,  based  upon  a  moderate  plan  of  subsidy,  was 
well  received.  He  attended  no  other  missionary  gathering, 
but  contented  himself  with  writing  for  the  religious  press. 
The  best  of  this  work  was  a  series  of  articles  published  in 
the  "  Congregationalist,"  entitled,  "  Why  Has  Asia  Waited?  " 
"  Moral  Progress  in  Japan,"  and  "  The  Theology  of 
Missions." 

A  source  of  cheer  were  many  letters  received  from  Japa- 
nese pastors.  One  of  the  Kumamoto  Band  who  had  built 
up  a  great  Christian  community  in  the  southern  island  of 


196  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

Shikoku,  wrote  of  the  outpouring  of  the  Spirit.  "  The 
work  progresses  amazingly  here.  Tomorrow,  seven  men 
and  one  woman  will  be  baptized  and  two  more  received 
by  letter.  .  .  .  May  God  keep  you  and  your  family  all 
through  your  way  over  sea  and  land,  and  give  you  peace, 
both  inside  and  outside." 

While  in  Oak  Park,  111.,  in  the  winter  of  1881,  he  could 
not  withhold  a  protest  to  the  Board  for  the  cutting  down 
of  appropriations  for  evangelistic  work  in  Japan.  A  cut  in 
this  work  was  a  stab  at  his  heart.  There  is  no  bitterness 
or  disloyalty  in  his  attitude,  but  a  note  of  optimism  that, 
at  any  rate,  other  missions  would  go  forward  where  his 
own  could  not  enter.  "  Other  boards  will  occupy  the  field 
and  reap  the  harvest  that  is  so  ready  and  waiting.  Well, 
I  am  glad  to  see  those  waiting  fields  occupied  by  any  loyal 
soldiers.  The  thirty-six  millions  of  Japan  are  anxious  to  hear 
the  Gospel  and  with  the  Enemy  eager  to  win  them,  it  is 
no  time  to  try  experiments.  ...  I  expect  to  work  with  our 
mission,  but  my  influence  will  go  toward  giving  the  Gospel 
to  the  people  as  soon  as  possible,  and  my  prayers  will  go 
up  for  those  of  every  nation  and  every  mission  who  are 
doing  this." 

He  had  now  been  absent  from  Japan  for  twenty-one 
months.  It  was  plain  that  he  was  decidedly  better,  though 
the  brain  difficulty  returned  when  over-tired  and,  in  fact, 
never  entirely  left  him.  The  last  of  October  found  them 
on  the  Pacific,  and  before  winter  they  were  settled  in  the 
Kyoto  home,  having  completed  the  world  circuit  and  an 
absence  of  nearly  two  years. 


CHAPTER  XIV 
THE  ACORN  SPLITS  THE   BOTTLE 

BY  the  year  1882,  Japan  had  entered  upon  an  eager 
quest  for  all  things  foreign,  that  swept  her  along  on 
a  resistless  tide  through  the  decade  of  the  eighties. 
That  it  was  premature  and  extreme  is  shown  by  the  com- 
plete reaction  which  took  place  during  the  next  decade, 
but,  while  it  lasted,  the  Island  Empire  passed  through  a 
metamorphosis  probably  experienced  by  no  other  nation  in 
history  in  an  equal  space  of  years.  Not  only  did  Japan, 
during  this  period,  take  on  many  of  the  outward  marks  of 
western  culture  and  progress,  but  her  people  began  to 
adopt  foreign  ideas  and  institutions  with  unprecedented 
rapidity. 

The  public  attitude  toward  Christianity  underwent  a 
transformation.  This  was  shown  in  the  great  increase  in 
sales  of  Testaments  and  Christian  books  and  by  the  popu- 
larity of  Christian  meetings.  The  period  was  characterized 
by  mass  meetings  in  which  thousands  crowded  the  halls 
and  theatres  of  the  great  cities  to  hear  the  Christian  mes- 
sage. Christianity  became  a  fad;  a  panacea  for  all  ills, 
individual  and  national.  Churches  and  workers,  Japanese 
and  foreign,  were  swamped  with  inquiries  and  applicants 
for  baptism.  So  rapidly  did  the  membership  of  churches 
increase  that  sanguine  workers  predicted  that  Japan  would 
be  a  Christian  nation  in  ten  years. 

The  Doshisha,  with  its  graduates  spreading  to  all  parts 
of  the  empire,  increased  in  enrollment,  during  eight  years, 
from  120  to  740  students.  Officialdom,  so  shortly  before 
putting  every  possible  obstacle  in  the  way  of  Christian 
progress,  now  smiled  upon  the  propaganda  and  showed 

197 


198  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

marked  favors  to  Christian  leaders  and  publicists.  The 
door  of  the  nation  was  flung  wide  to  the  Gospel  of  Jesus 
Christ,  while  the  Christian  world  was  expecting  a  speedy 
entrance  of  the  Island  Empire  into  the  Kingdom  of  God. 

Dr.  Davis'  letters  assume  a  new  note  of  courage  and 
optimism.  Shortly  after  his  return,  he  wrote:  "We  now 
have  twenty  churches  in  connection  with  our  mission. 
They  have  nearly  doubled  in  membership  this  year  as  the 
result  of  the  continued  presence  of  God's  spirit.  Our 
college  and  seminary  have  reached  a  highwater  mark. 
Out  of  165  students  enrolled,  105  are  Christians.  We  have 
nearly  thirty  in  the  Theological  Department,  but  the  class 
which  is  graduating  next  June  will  not  supply  one-tenth 
of  the  places  which  are  calling.  The  Mikado  and  members 
of  the  Cabinet  are  reported  to  be  studying  the  Bible,  and 
it  is  not  too  much  to  pray  that  they  may  be  truly  con- 
verted. Japan  cannot  ignore  Christianity  much  longer: 
either  her  leading  men  will  be  converted  and  influence  the 
masses  or  an  eclectic  state  religion  will  be  proclaimed,  pat- 
terned on  Christianity.  We  all  feel  that  we  are  on  the 
eve  of  stirring  events,  which  may  startle  the  world.  These 
subjects  are  occasions  for  prayer,  especially  that  the  con- 
tinued outpouring  and  presence  of  the  Spirit,  on  all  our 
churches,  may  make  permanent  the  heart  union  which  was 
so  signally  given  last  year  in  answer  to  prayer,  and  that  a 
great  company  of  Japanese  workers  may  be  raised  up  to 
help  reap  this  harvest." 

In  the  spring  of  1883,  the  Tokyo  region  was  visited  with 
an  outpouring  of  God's  Spirit.  A  Doshisha  graduate,  the 
Rev.  H.  Kosaki,  of  Tokyo,  wrote  to  Mr.  Davis:  —  "  Thank 
God,  He  is  doing  a  mighty  work  here.  The  day  of  Pente- 
cost is  being  realized.  Many  churches  are  undergoing  the 
baptism  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  We  held  meetings  every  eve- 
ning last  week;  many  confessed  their  faith  in  Christ  and  all 
underwent  the  most  extraordinary  experience.  Last  night 


THE  ACORN  SPLITS  THE  BOTTLE  199 

I  could  not  sleep  until  one  o'clock  because  of  the  anxious 
inquiries  after  the  Truth.  'This  morning,  about  half-past 
five,  they  began  to  come  again  to  see  me.  Proud  men, 
nominally  Christians  for  many  years,  have  broken  down, 
crying  like  children  for  pardon  and  peace." 

This  pentecostal  experience  swept  over  nearly  the  whole 
country.  Thousands  entered  the  church;  many  had  their 
faith  deepened,  while  in  certain  places  the  gracious  work 
of  the  Spirit  continued  for  many  months. 

The  unparalleled  importance  of  these  impressionable  years 
for  pressing  a  steady  and  intense  advance,  for  following 
up  the  advantage  that  the  Christian  church  had  gained,  if 
the  empire  was  to  be  won  for  Christ,  made  a  constant 
appeal  to  Dr.  Davis.  This  is  what  gave  him  scant  pa- 
tience with  policies  which  temporized  with  the  situation  or 
which  were  proposed  as  experiments.  This  was  the  power 
that  drove  his  pen  in  the  impetuous  stream  of  letters  that 
flowed  between  Kyoto  and  Boston.  "  I  am  more  and  more 
convinced,"  said  he,  "  that  what  we  do  for  Japan  must  be 
done  quickly,  and  that  we  must  sow  beside  all  waters. 
Dr.  Verbeck  thinks  that  Japan  will  be  a  Christian  nation 
in  ten  years;  Dr.  Hepburn,  the  oldest  missionary  on  the 
ground,  puts  it  at  fifteen  years.  Whether  these  are  too 
sanguine  or  not,  it  is  very  certain  that  what  the  West  does 
for  Japan  in  this  line  must  be  done  soon.  ...  I  think  that 
there  are  missionaries  on  the  ground  who  will  see  the  time 
when  their  usefulness,  save  in  exceptional  cases,  will  be  at 
an  end,  when  the  Japanese  Church  will  have  assumed  such 
a  position  of  strength  and  independence  that  it  can 
work  better  in  most  lines  without  the  foreign  element. 
We  are  now  laying  the  foundations  and  determining  the 
ratio  of  the  geometrical  proportion  which  will  bring  these 
millions  into  the  Kingdom  of  God." 

After  outlining  the  steady  progress  in  the  various  depart- 
ments of  Japanese  life,  and  emphasizing  the  wonderful 


200  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

growth  of  moral  ideas,  with  the  attending  expansion  of  the 
Christian  movement,  he  says:  "  If  the  increase  in  the  Prot- 
estant churches  goes  on  for  the  next  ten  years  in  the  same 
ratio  as  that  of  last  year,  we  shall  have  in  Japan,  at  the 
end  of  that  time,  over  400,000  Christians.  What  does  this 
mean  of  responsibility  and  work  for  all  concerned!  If  we 
are  to  give  any  Biblical  training  to  the  pastors  who  are 
needed  for  this  work,  we  will  have  to  greatly  enlarge  the 
Doshisha.  .  .  .  The  eyes  of  the  nation  are  on  this  school 
with  hope  and  expectation.  Many  of  the  Christians  of 
other  denominations  are  looking  to  it  as  the  most  hopeful 
spot  in  Japan.  Sixty  of  the  leading  men  of  Kyoto  recently 
met  to  hear  addresses  on  Christianity  and  the  plan  of 
Christian  colleges  in  America,  and  decided  to  use  their 
influence  and  to  give  their  money  to  endow  the  Doshisha, 
choosing  two  of  their  company  to  be  the  trustees  of  the 
fund  they  are  raising.  The  faith  of  the  Japanese  Christians 
is  another  element  to  be  reckoned  with.  Prominent  pastors 
and  many  church  members  are  praying  and  anticipating 
that  Japan  may  become  a  Christian  nation  in  a  few  years, 
and  that  they  may  soon  have  a  corps  of  workers  in  Corea 
and  China.  The  Christians  seem  pervaded  by  a  simple, 
humble  faith,  a  taking  of  God  at  His  word,  and  the  preach- 
ing of  the  simple  cross  of  Christ.  I  do  not  believe  that 
there  is  any  limit  to  the  work  which  God  may  do  through 
such  instruments.  Then,  again,  the  prayers  of  the  world 
are  being  poured  out  for  Japan.  .  .  .  There  is  power  in 
prayer;  will  it  not  avail  for  Japan?  What  then  is  our 
responsibility;  what  is  your  duty  and  responsibility?  I 
cannot  measure,  describe  or  picture  it. 

"  Among  the  mountains  beyond  us  is  a  band  of  over 
thirty  Christians  who  have  recently  come  to  Christ,  with 
almost  no  teaching.  They  need  a  pastor;  we  have  no  one 
to  send.  In  Takahashi  a  church  has  grown  to  over  one 
hundred  in  a  fe.w  months,  but  the  young  man  who  was 


THE  ACORN  SPLITS  THE  BOTTLE  201 

laboring  there  has  broken  down  and  we  have  no  one  to 
take  his  place.  Fukui,  one  hundred  miles  north,  has  been 
calling  for  a  pastor  for  five  years,  but  no  man  can  be  sent. 
Indeed,  it  seems  as  if  Kyoto  would  absorb  all  the  pastors 
which  our  school  can  turn  out  for  some  years  to  come. 
The  present,  in  Japan,  is  like  the  opening  of  our  Civil  War 
in  America,  when  the  West  Point  graduates  could  not  fill 
one  position  in  a  hundred  of  those  which  needed  to  be 
filled.  I  thank  God  that  He  can  use  others.  Pray  for 
us  all." 

In  the  spring  of  1883,  he  advised  Mr.  Neesima  to  en- 
large the  Doshisha  Company  by  adding  several  of  the 
strongest  available  men  to  the  Board  of  Trustees,  whose 
number  was  now  increased  to  five. 

The  basis  of  the  Doshisha  Company,  which  was  the  writ- 
ten form  of  the  understanding  existing  from  the  beginning 
between  the  Japanese  and  the  American  Board  Mission, 
is  as  follows: 

1.  The  "  Doshisha  Company  "  shall  consist  of  five  mem- 
bers, who  shall  own  the  property  of  the  company,  and  see 
that  it  is  used  for  the  maintenance  of  Christian  schools, 
and  shall  have  charge  of  all  business  arising  between  said 
schools   and   the   Japanese   government. 

2.  Said  company  shall  perpetuate  itself,  electing  members 
to  fill  vacancies,  and  shall  elect  one  of  its  number  as  presi- 
dent of  the  schools. 

3.  All  the  internal  affairs  and  arrangements  of  the  school 
shall  be  administered  by  the  regular  Japanese  and  foreign 
teachers  of  each  school,  in  company  with  the  president. 

4.  Money  sent  to  the  schools  by  foreign  friends   shall  be 
expended   under   the   direction   of   the   foreign   teachers,    or 
other  representatives  of  the  donors,  after  consultation  with 
the   president   and   the  Japanese   teachers   of   each   school, 
respectively. 

At  this  time  the  real  estate  on  which  the  homes  of  some 


202  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

of  the  missionaries  stood,  which  till  now  had  been  held 
in  Mr.  Neesima's  name,  was  transferred  to  the  Doshisha 
Company.  Of  this  transfer  and  the  legal  status  of  the 
Doshisha  property,  he  wrote  to  Dr.  Clark,  May  23rd,  1883: 
44  The  company  is  composed  of  the  best  and  most  stable 
men  that  we  have  and  those  who  are,  and  always  have 
been,  in  full  sympathy  with  the  mission  and  its  policy, 
but  it  should  be  understood  that  the  mission  and  the 
Board  have  no  legal  claim  on  this  property  in  Kyoto,  for  it 
is  impossible  for  foreigners  to  own  real  estate  in  Japan, 
save  on  the  concessions  in  the  treaty  ports.  This  company, 
organized  on  this  basis,  with  the  understanding  that  no 
changes  are  to  be  made  in  the  basis  or  in  the  members  of 
the  company  without  consulting  us,  is  the  best  possible 
arrangement  that  can  be  made  under  the  circumstances  in 
Japan.  But  it  would  not  be  possible  to  recover  one  cent 
here  in  court,  if  they  should  turn  us  out.  I  hope  that  this 
is  made  plain.  This  could  only  happen  in  case  of  a  com- 
plete break  between  the  Japanese  and  us,  for  they  under- 
stand that  they  hold  this  property  in  trust  for  the  united 
work  which  we  are  to  do  by  means  of  it.  Dr.  Clark  has 
added,  '  We  take  the  risk,'  and  Mr.  Allchin  feelingly  said 
the  other  day  in  our  mission  meeting,  '  We  have  our  pay 
for  our  investment  already  in  the  young  men  who  have 
gone  out  from  the  school  and  are  at  work." 

In  September,  1884,  the  entering  class  was  double  that 
of  any  preceding  year,  and  the  problem  of  housing  the  new 
boys  arose.  In  asking  the  Board  for  an  appropriation  for 
new  dormitories,  he  wrote:  "Things  are  moving  faster,  far 
faster  than  our  mission  as  a  whole  moves.  We  are  crowded 
on  by  the  work  instead  of  planning  and  preparing  for  it. 
For  this  there  is  no  help,  but  I  want  you  to  know  why  we 
ask  for  such  great  things  and,  in  time,  so  as  to  be  ready 
for  the  work."  He  wrote  of  the  evangelistic  theatre  meet- 
ings held  in  the  towns  of  Nagahama  and  Hikone,  attended 


THE  ACORN  SPLITS  THE  BOTTLE  203 

by  upwards  of  700  men:  —  "They  were  largely  middle- 
aged  and  aged  men  and  the  attention  through  three  to 
four  hours  was  perfect.  I  shall  never  forget  the  upturned 
gaze  of  those  men,  many  with  mouths  as  well  as  ears  wide 
open,  a  symbol  of  the  attitude  of  all  Japan  today.  The 
thought  of  it  haunts  me.  We  cannot  begin  to  speak  to 
the  millions  who  want  to  hear." 

The  Buddhist  and  Shinto  forces  were  not  submitting 
without  a  struggle  to  the  giant  strides  of  the  foreign  faith. 
They  scattered  seditious  literature  regarding  Christianity, 
they  hired  rough  characters  to  break  up  Christian  meetings 
and  made  open  threats  of  violence.  But  the  government 
had  taken  a  clear  stand  on  the  question  of  religious  free- 
dom and  gave  open  protection  to  Christian  gatherings.  In 
the  fall  of  1884,  a  letter  was  placed  in  Mr.  Learned's  post- 
box  addressed  to  "  The  four  American  Barbarians,  Davis, 
Gordon,  Learned  and  Greene,"  which  read:  —  "I  speak  to 
you  who  have  come  with  words  which  are  sweet  in  the 
mouth,  but  are  a  sword  in  the  heart;  bad  priests;  Ameri- 
can barbarians;  four  robbers.  You  have  come  from  a  far 
country  with  the  evil  religion  of  Christ  and  as  slaves  of  the 
Japanese  robber  Neesima,  with  bad  teaching  you  are  grad- 
ually deceiving  the  people,  but  we  know  your  hearts,  and 
hence  we  shall  inflict  with  Japanese  sword  the  punishment 
of  heaven  upon  you.  Japan  being  truly  an  excellent 
country,  in  ancient  times,  when  Buddhism  first  came,  those 
who  brought  it  were  killed;  in  the  same  way  you  must  be 
killed.  But  we  do  not  want  to  defile  the  sacred  soil  of 
Japan  with  your  abominable  blood;  for  this  reason,  we 
will  wait  two  weeks,  within  which  you  must  leave  Kyoto 
and  go  to  America,  if  not,  the  robbers  of  the  Doshisha  and 
all  believers  of  this  way  in  the  city,  will  be  killed;  hence 
take  your  families  and  go  quickly."  (Signed  by)  "Patriots 
in  the  peaceful  city,  believers  in  Shinto."  The  only  com- 
ment Mr.  Davis  made  upon  this  letter  was:  "  Of  course, 


204  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

this  is  only  buncombe,  but  it  shows  the  spirit  that  is 
working  against  us;  for  a  while  Christianity  was  ignored, 
then  it  was  ridiculed;  now  it  is  feared  and  the  whole  situa- 
tion is  most  encouraging." 

The  spirit  of  independence  and  of  impatience  with 
foreign  control  and  even  with  cooperation,  was  growing 
rapidly  among  the  Japanese  leaders.  Mission  boards  and 
missionaries  were  freely  criticized  for  assuming  credit  in 
their  reports  for  work  that  was  largely  accomplished  by  the 
Japanese.  There  was  increasing  restiveness  over  the  use 
of  foreign  money,  while  the  statement  was  often  heard  that 
Japan  was  not  a  missionary  country  in  the  sense  that  other 
lands  were  fields  of  mission  activity.  Among  the  larger 
Kumi-ai  churches  of  the  north  a  movement  arose  for  an 
independent  Japanese  church  to  include  all  denominations 
and  to  be  operated  separately  from  mission  boards. 

A  prominent  Tokyo  pastor  was  deputed  to  present 
a  statement  of  the  plan  to  the  missionaries  of  the  American 
Board  through  Mr.  Davis,  who  was  asked  to  criticize  the 
plan.  He  did  this  in  a  clear,  forceful,  but  loving  letter. 
Parts  of  this  letter,  which  was  the  beginning  of  a  consider- 
able correspondence  upon  the  subject,  between  himself  and 
the  Japanese  leaders,  are  typical  of  the  spirit  in  which  he 
dealt  with  his  Japanese  colleagues,  a  spirit  both  fearless 
and  kind,  speaking  the  absolute  truth,  as  he  saw  it,  yet 
showing  through  it  all  the  love  of  an  elder  brother  in 
Christ.  After  detailing  the  points  upon  which  the  propo- 
sition for  entire  independence  rested,  he  said:  "  There  is  no 
official  connection  between  the  Congregational  churches  of 
Japan  and  the  American  Board  Mission.  We  have  not  a 
shred  of  power  over  them  and  no  control,  save  as  coun- 
sellors, and  that  only  in  so  far  as  they  choose  to  receive  our 
counsel.  ...  It  is  true  that  the  Congregational  churches 
in  Japan  are  reported  to  the  American  Board  by  us,  but 
not  in  any  official  relation.  Do  you  object  to  being  re- 


THE  ACORN  SPLITS  THE  BOTTLE  205 

ported  as  Congregational  churches?  We  are  the  represen- 
tatives of  the  Congregational  churches  in  America.  We 
and  they  have  had  a  humble  part  in  this  work.  They  are 
expending  $40,000  a  year  in  this  work  now;  they  educated 
and  have  supported  Mr.  Neesima;  they  have  put  many 
thousands  of  dollars  into  the  Doshisha,  where  you  and 
many  of  your  colleagues  have  studied;  we  are  now  asking 
them  to  help  your  church  building  and  your  newspaper 
enterprise.  j 

"  This  work  in  Japan  up  to  this  time  has  been,  largely, 
a  seed-sowing  work.  Do  you  desire  that  when  the  seed 
springs  up  and  bears  fruit  and  the  harvest  is  being  reaped, 
it  should  not  be  reported  to  the  home  churches? 

"  Do  we  owe  nothing  to  this  great  army  of  friends  that  is 
behind  us,  bearing  us  up  in  their  hands  and  on  their  hearts 
before  God?  How  can  Christ's  words,  John  iv,  36,  be  ful- 
filled :  '  That  both  he  that  soweth  and  he  that  reapeth 
may  rejoice  together,'  if  we  make  no  reports?  .  .  .  You  ask 
us  to  beget  children,  to  travail  in  birth  for  them,  to  care 
for  them  during  their  tender  years  and  then  not  even  to 
count  them.  If  this  is  a  wrong  analogy,  then  we  are  not 
real  missionaries.  .  .  .  We  cannot  leave  home,  family  and 
country,  and  come  here  and  do  ever  so  humble  a  work  for 
these  souls  without  loving  them  as  our  own  children.  There 
is  no  other  tie  between  us;  we  would  have  no  other  tie 
but  love;  we  cannot  cut  that;  you  cannot  cut  it.  We  con- 
sider you  perfectly  free  and  independent;  on  the  American 
plan  of  parents  and  children,  we  want  you  to  set  up  inde- 
pendent houses,  but  we  must  love  you;  you  must  let  us 
report  your  numbers  and  increase  to  the  thousands  in 
America  who  love  you  and  are  praying  for  you.  In  so 
reporting,  we  are  deeply  conscious  that  the  Infinite  Factor 
does  nearly  all  the  work,  and  to  Him  be  all  the  glory." 

He  urged  the  desirability  of  working  in  cooperation, 
strongly  deprecating  a  step  which  would  set  off  the  Japa- 


206  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

nese  churches  as  a  rival  body  to  the  mission.  He  pointed 
out  that  the  strength  of  the  whole  movement  lay  in  mutual 
cooperation,  trust  and  love;  that  the  proposal  to  gather 
the  churches  of  all  denominations  into  an  independent 
Japanese  church  was  impossible;  that  it  would  make  the 
church  of  Japan  virtually  a  Congregational  church,  and 
that  none  of  the  other  missions  in  the  country  would  con- 
sider such  a  plan;  that  it  would,  instead,  bring  opposition 
and  suspicion  upon  the  whole  Congregational  movement  in 
Japan.  He  further  showed  that  such  a  plan  would  meet 
with  stout  opposition  from  many  of  the  leading  Japanese 
Kumi-ai  workers,  and  that  it  would  ruin  Mr.  Neesima's 
hopes  of  securing  further  endowment  for  the  Doshisha. 
Finally,  he  wrote:  "Such  a  separation  as  you  propose 
will  have  very  far-reaching  influences;  nothing  else  has 
ever  united  the  Japanese  and  foreigners  together;  cannot 
Christianity  do  it?  It  professes  to  be  able  to.  If  we  sepa- 
rate, Christianity  will  seem  to  have  failed  in  one  of  its 
important  functions.  Can  we  afford  to  let  this  example  of 
the  power  of  Christ  fail?  ...  I  fully  believe  that  if  we  will 
but  let  theories  alone,  and  with  hearts  filled,  united  and 
melted  together  with  the  love  and  spirit  of  Christ,  clasp 
hands  in  this  work  for  these  millions  for  whom  he  died, 
we  will  forget  our  nationalities  and  that  God  will  use  us  to 
do  a  mighty  work  here  in  Japan." 

His  time  and  thought  through  the  spring  of  1885  was 
largely  given  to  the  question  of  the  organization  of  the 
Japanese  churches,  which  he  considered  of  the  utmost  im- 
portance as  a  means  of  diverting  the  more  restless  spirits 
from  the  independence  movement,  of  facilitating  the  growth 
of  the  church  and  of  correlating  and  rendering  more 
effective  its  activities.  While  he  honored  the  spirit  that 
prompted  the  desire  for  a  purely  Japanese  movement,  his 
close  personal  relation  to  many  of  the  leaders  made  him 
sensitive  to  the  custom  of  excluding  missionaries  from  con- 


THE  ACORN  SPLITS  THE  BOTTLE  207 

ferences  and  committee  meetings,  which  was  common  at 
this  time.  "  I  felt  it  keenly  last  June,  at  the  meeting  of 
the  Missionary  Society,  when  I  would  have  given  a  dollar 
a  minute  to  speak  to  those  men  thirty  minutes,  but  no 
foreigner  was  asked  to  speak.  I  do  not  mention  this  to 
discourage  you;  I  am  not  discouraged.  Our  outlook  was 
never  so  bright  before,  but  you  have  laid  out  a  great  plan 
for  us,  and  I  want  you  to  realize  a  few  of  the  difficulties 
in  the  way.  We  will  do  all  we  can,  but  we  have  not  power 
to  work  miracles;  only  God  can  do  that  and  he  may  in 
this  case.  ...  It  is  natural  that  one  should  magnify  his 
own  work,  but  I  am  more  and  more  convinced  that  our 
school  here  is  the  strongest  existing  bond  of  union  between 
the  mission  and  the  churches." 

The  year  1884  will  be  remembered  in  the  spiritual 
history  of  the  Doshisha  as  the  year  of  a  remarkable  revival 
which  has  had  few  parallels  in  the  records  of  supplicatory 
prayer.  The  fall  of  1883  was  a  period  of  speculation  and 
doubt  in  the  school,  and  among  the  churches.  Several  of 
the  faculty  were  deeply  concerned  and  frequently  met  to- 
gether for  prayer  for  the  Doshisha.  The  Week  of  Prayer, 
in  January,  passed  without  special  results.  It  was  con- 
tinued a  second  week,  with  a  general  meeting  each  evening 
for  prayer  for  the  outpouring  of  God's  Spirit.  However, 
no  visible  results  came.  A  group  often  continued  praying 
daily.  Early  in  February,  Mr.  Davis  wrote  a  letter  to 
forty  colleges  and  theological  schools  in  the  United  States, 
asking  for  special  prayer  for  the  pouring  out  of  God's  Spirit 
upon  the  school.  The  weeks  wore  on  with  no  change  in 
the  situation. 

Sabbath,  the  sixteenth  of  March,  dawned,  a  radiant 
morning.  The  day  passed  as  usual,  but  before  night,  un- 
known to  the  teachers,  an  invisible  power  swept  through 
the  Doshisha.  During  the  long  night  hours  nearly  all  of 
the  one  hundred  and  fifty  students,  Christians  and  non- 


208  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

Christians  alike,  wrestled  under  an  agony  of  conviction  of 
sin  with  their  Maker.  Mr.  Davis  records  of  this  experi- 
ence:—  "That  week  will  never  be  forgotten;  the  boys 
could  not  sleep,  but  spent  the  nights  in  strong  crying 
to  God  for  themselves  and  for  others.  During  this  whole 
period  there  was  no  preaching;  no  exhortation;  the  move- 
ment was  entirely  spontaneous.  The  whole  school  has  been 
transformed.  Thirty-seven  are  asking  for  baptism  and  all 
but  ten  in  the  Doshisha  consider  themselves  Christians." 

The  most  remarkable  feature  of  this  work  was  not 
the  number  of  conversions,  but  rather  the  experience  of  a 
new  joy  and  peace,  a  consciousness  of  the  power  of  the 
Gospel,  and  a  devotion  to  their  Lord,  shared  in  common  by 
nearly  all  the  Christian  students.  An  irresistible  impulse 
impelled  them  to  preach  the  Gospel  and  it  took  firm  hand- 
ling to  keep  the  School  from  being  emptied.  This,  with 
the  nervous  excitement  under  which  many  of  the  students 
were  living,  was  a  cause  for  deep  concern  to  the  faculty. 
"  We  kept  steadily  at  our  work,  excusing  none  from  reci- 
tations. .  .  .  Thursday,  a  group  of  young  men  came  to  my 
house  to  ask  if  they  could  have  funds  with  which  to  go  to 
preach.  I  put  off  the  first  company,  but  soon  a  second 
group  came,  on  the  run,  out  of  breath,  trembling  with  ex- 
citement and  saying  that  they  were  going  to  obey  God 
and  not  man,  and  that  the  Spirit  told  them  to  go  and 
preach.  They  said,  '  Sayonara,'  and  started  for  the  door. 
I  cried,  '  Hold  on,  I  want  to  show  you  a  passage  of  Scrip- 
ture,' seized  a  Bible  and  read  I  John,  chapter  four,  which 
begins,  '  Beloved,  believe  not  every  spirit,  but  prove  the 
spirits  whether  they  are  of  God,  because  many  false  proph- 
ets are  gone  out  into  the  world.  Hereby,  know  ye  the 
spirit  of  God,'  etc.  This  caught  their  attention  and  they 
came  back  and  sat  down.  We  talked  and  prayed  together 
and  they  were  completely  melted,  saying  that  Satan  had 
been  leading  them  and  that  they  would  wait  until  after 


THE  ACORN  SPLITS  THE  BOTTLE  209 

examinations.  This  was  followed  by  a  general  meeting  of 
the  students,  many  of  whom  came  with  their  bundles  upon 
their  backs  ready  to  start.  The  faculty  and  two  of  the 
older  students  finally  quieted  them,  and  a  compromise  was 
made  by  which  three  students  were  at  once  allowed  to 
go  out  into  evangelistic  work.  The  Doshisha  quieted  dowrn 
and  the  year  closed  without  further  incident." 

The  source  of  this  wonderful  experience  was  not  difficult 
to  find.  About  the  middle  of  April  answers  to  the  letters 
sent  to  America,  asking  for  intercessory  prayer  for  the 
Doshisha,  began  to  arrive.  They  told  how  from  the  12th 
to  the  17th  of  March,  the  day  of  the  revival  in  the  Dosh- 
isha, groups  of  students  in  different  parts  of  the  United 
States  had  united  in  prayer  for  the  Doshisha,  with  a  fer- 
vor of  supplication  and  of  faith  that  some  of  these  schools 
had  never  before  known.  This  revival  gave  an  evangelistic 
impulse  to  the  Doshisha  which  resulted  in  a  large  number 
of  students  devoting  their  lives  to  the  ministry;  it  made 
the  power  of  prayer  and  the  presence  of  the  Spirit  of  God 
mighty  and  vivid  realities  to  Mr.  Davis;  it  stimulated  a 
fresh  interest  in  the  Doshisha  among  a  large  circle  of 
friends  in  America,  and  it  quickened  the  spiritual  life  of  the 
whole  Kumi-ai  church,  which  now  underwent  a  period  of 
remarkable  growth. 

The  illness  of  Mrs.  Davis  through  the  autumn  and 
winter  of  1885  was  a  cause  for  deepest  concern.  He  wrote: 
— "  I  do  not  look  far  into  the  future,  and  I  am  glad  that 
I  cannot,  content  to  know  that  there  is  One  who  knows  all 
and  has  planned  it  all  in  the  best  way.  Whatever  comes 
with  His  blessing  will  be  only  blessing  for  us."  The  death 
of  his  wife,  in  April,  1886,  necessitated  an  eight  months' 
absence  from  Japan,  in  which  Dr.  Davis  found  a  home  for 
the  three  older  children  in  Oberlin,  Ohio,  in  the  family  of 
Rev.  Wm.  Mellen,  a  veteran  missionary  of  the  American 
Board. 


210  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

It  is  probable  that  the  sphere  of  influence  of  the  true 
missionary  wife,  in  the  early  period  of  any  field,  can  never 
be  correctly  estimated.  Behind  the  outstanding  achieve- 
ments of  nearly  every  pioneer  of  the  modern  Church  has 
stood  a  frail  figure,  cast  in  heroic  mould,  clasping  hands  with 
her  husband  in  accomplishing  the  impossible.  God,  only, 
knows  the  contribution  of  unfailing  cheer,  superb  loyalty, 
silent  suffering,  secret  prayer  and  heroic  faith  laid  by  the 
wives  upon  the  altar  of  foreign  missionary  service. 

After  seeing  the  children  well  started  in  school,  he  re- 
turned to  Japan  with  the  baby,  then  eighteen  months  old. 
"  I  said,  '  goodbye,'  to  the  children  one  evening  and  took 
the  west-bound  train  for  Chicago.  It  seemed  as  if  it  must 
take  an  extra  amount  of  steam  to  pull  the  train,  so  strongly 
was  I  drawn  to  those  I  had  left  behind."  Many  were  sur- 
prised at  his  return  to  Japan  under  these  circumstances, 
but  to  some,  this  decision  to  separate  from  the  motherless 
family  became  a  supreme  inspiration.  Especially  was  this 
true  of  his  Japanese  friends.  One  of  his  old  pupils  who  was 
in  America  wrote  him:  —  "One  thing  I  have  had  in  my 
heart  since  the  coming  of  the  news  of  Mrs.  Davis'  death, 
which  I  must  speak  out.  I  refer  to  your  decision  to  go 
back  to  Japan,  leaving  your  children  in  the  hands  of 
strangers.  I  think  this  decision  of  yours  moved  me  and 
gave  me  greater  good  than  all  your  teaching  put  together. 
This  one  act,  in  deciding  to  return  again  to  your  work,  has 
given  a  new  view  of  the  Christian  life  to  all  my  classmates, 
and  I  think  to  hundreds  of  Christians  there." 

On  returning  to  Japan  in  the  late  winter  of  1887  the 
hospitable  home  of  his  close  colleague,  Dr.  Dwight  W. 
Learned,  was  opened  to  himself  and  little  daughter.  They 
shared  the  comforts  of  this  home  for  more  than  a  year,  little 
Helen  being  mothered  so  genuinely  by  Mrs.  Learned  that 
the  father  was  free  to  carry  on  his  teaching,  as  before,  in 
the  Doshisha.  His  second  marriage  occurred  July  10th, 


THE  ACORN  SPLITS  THE  BOTTLE  211 

1888,  to  Miss  Frances  Hooper,  of  Worcester,  Mass.,  a  mem- 
ber of  the  mission  who  had  served  efficiently  for  five  years 
on  the  faculty  of  the  Girls'  School  in  Kyoto,  and  who  had 
been  a  warm  friend  of  the  Davis  family.  The  new  home 
that  was  established  was  an  exceedingly  happy  one,  its 
cordial  hospitality  through  the  next  twenty-two  years 
making  effective  one  of  the  most  fruitful  phases  of  Dr. 
Davis'  whole  missionary  work.  Two  sons,  Louis  and 
Jerome,  came  to  join  little  Helen  in  completing  the  family 
group. 

The  rapid  growth  of  the  Doshisha  and  the  corresponding 
need  of  better  equipment  were  constantly  on  his  heart. 
His  letters  to  the  Board,  pleading  for  the  school,  represent- 
ing what  the  investment  of  a  little  money  could  do  in  mak- 
ing it  a  more  efficient  instrument  for  redeeming  Japan, 
number  over  two  hundred  during  this  one  period.  The  lack  of 
adequate  equipment,  with  the  pro-foreign  wave  which  was 
sweeping  Japan,  was  draining  the  school  of  many  of  its  best 
students  who,  dissatisfied,  were  leaving  for  America  and 
Europe.  Of  the  Doshisha's  lack  of  modern  equipment  and, 
especially,  of  a  reference  library  and  scientific  apparatus,  he 
wrote  in  1884:  —  "  If  we  are  to  satisfy  our  young  men  we 
must  have  such  a  school  here  that  we  can  say  to  them, 
'  Doshisha  is  as  good  a  school  in  which  to  lay  the  founda- 
tions of  an  education  as  there  is  in  the  United  States.'  You 
are  doing  nobly  by  us,  but  the  cutting  off  of  these  things 
is  like  cutting  off  the  oil  needed  to  lubricate  a  costly  engine 
—  it  will  run,  but  it  runs  at  a  loss  which  bears  no  compari- 
son to  the  cost  of  the  oil  which  is  denied." 

The  dedication  of  the  Nurses'  School  and  the  opening  of 
the  new  library,  on  November  15th,  1887,  presented  a  re- 
markable scene.  The  Doshisha  chapel  was  crowded  with 
four  hundred  representative  men  of  the  city.  On  the  plat- 
form sat,  as  guests  of  honor,  the  Governor  of  Kyoto  Fu, 
the  two  city  Mayors,  the  Chairman  of  the  Kyoto  Assembly 


212  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

and  representative  physicians  of  the  city,  from  all  of  whom 
congratulatory  addresses  were  received.  "  When  we  think 
of  the  storm  of  opposition  in  the  midst  of  which  the 
Doshisha  struggled  for  life  during  the  first  five  years  of  its 
existence,  it  seems  little  less  than  miraculous  to  witness  this 
scene.  No  one  can  measure  the  greatness  of  the  impres- 
sion for  good  which  has  been  made  today."  ..."  Re- 
cently, Viscount  Hijikata  of  the  Imperial  Household  De- 
partment visited  us  and  addressed  all  the  students  in  the 
chapel.  After  his  speech,  Govenor  Kitagaki  of  Kyoto 
turned  to  the  Viscount  and  asked  him  to  speak  of  Doshisha 
to  the  Emperor.  The  eyes  of  the  nation  are  upon  us  and 
we  wish  to  make  our  school  better  in  every  way  so  that  it 
may  be  indeed  a  pattern  to  this  people." 

In  the  fall  of  1888  occurred  the  memorable  visit  of 
Luther  D.  Wishard,  from  which  dates  the  organization  of 
the  first  regular  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  in 
Japan.  It  was  in  his  home,  where  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wishard 
were  entertained,  that  the  basis  of  the  future  Association 
union  for  Japan  was  first  discussed.  Mr.  Wishard,  in  com- 
pany with  Mr.  John  T.  Swift,  who  had  recently  come  to 
Japan  as  the  first  foreign  secretary  of  the  International 
Committee,  spent  several  weeks  at  the  Doshisha,  holding 
evangelistic  meetings.  Dr.  Davis  wrote  of  this  work:  "We 
had  been  praying  for  a  blessing  in  connection  with  Mr. 
Wishard 's  visit,  and  it  came.  Our  new  home  was  full  of 
students.  Fifty  crowded  into  our  parlor  and  sat  on  the 
floor  to  listen  to  Mr.  Wishard,  while  Mr.  Swift  would  have 
another  company  in  the  dining  room  and  sometimes  a  third 
group  met  in  the  study.  As  a  result  of  this  revival,  one 
hundred  and  three  students  united  with  the  church  the 
next  March." 

The  period  closes  with  another  triumphal  report  of  the 
school  year  of  1889:  —  "  Of  the  740  students,  495  are  Chris- 
tians. One  hundred  and  sixty-five  have  been  baptized 


THE  ACORN  SPLITS  THE  BOTTLE  213 

from  the  two  schools  during  the  last  year.  Our  graduation 
exercises  begin  tomorrow  and,  on  Satuday,  Mr.  Wishard's 
Summer  School  begins;  we  are  expecting  many  from  out- 
side and  are  praying  for  rich  results." 

Through  the  year  1887  the  plan  for  organic  union  be- 
tween the  Congregational  and  Presbyterian  churches,  which 
had  been  gathering  headway  for  some  time,  was  fairly 
broached.  Liberal  concessions  were  made  upon  both  sides, 
an  apparently  workable  basis  of  union  was  presented  by  the 
joint  committees  and  a  majority  of  the  Japanese  leaders, 
and  the  missionaries  in  both  churches  favored  the  plan. 
However,  the  rank  and  file  of  the  Kumi-ai  churches  were 
fearful  lest  their  liberties  would  be  curtailed  under  the  new 
basis,  and,  after  nearly  two  years  of  negotiation,  the  matter 
was  dropped. 

It  was  a  source  of  keen  regret  to  Dr.  Davis,  who  had 
been  appointed  to  serve  upon  the  Committee  from  the 
American  Board  Mission,  that  he  could  not  favor  this  union 
movement,  whose  predecessor  in  the  seventies  he  had  so 
earnestly  supported.  With  the  spirit  of  united  missionary 
effort  he  was  in  hearty  sympathy,  but  he  believed  that  this 
particular  movement  was  being  promoted  along  lines  which 
would  not  foster  a  union  of  all  bodies  in  Japan,  but  rather 
the  strengthening  of  one  of  the  leading  bodies. 

He  published  his  views  upon  the  union  question,  drawing 
attention  to  what  he  considered  impracticable  in  the  plan. 
He  felt  a  deep  obligation  to  the  Congregational  churches 
which  were  behind  the  work  in  Japan,  and  this,  with  his 
loyalty  to  the  American  Board,  prevented  him  from  sup- 
porting a  movement  which  had  the  cordial  backing  of 
nearly  all  the  members  of  his  mission.  Finally,  he  was 
convinced  that  though  the  Japanese  were  promoters  of 
the  general  plan  of  union,  the  particular  form  in  which  it 
was  to  be  effected  did  not  originate  with  them,  and  that 
although  it  had  received  the  assent  of  the  Japanese  mem- 


214  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

bers  of  the  committee,  it  did  not  approve  itself  to  a  ma- 
jority of  the  Kumi-ai  churches  and  that  the  result  would 
be  a  split  within  the  Congregational  body  in  Japan.  He 
wrote:  "The  union  is  very  much  like  the  wolf  and  the 
lamb  lying  down  together,  but  with  the  lamb  lying  down 
inside  the  wolf:  —  the  principal  change  which  the  wolf 
undergoes  in  the  operation  is  to  become  bigger.  I  can  only 
speak  for  myself:  it  is  better  for  others  who  are  in  favor 
of  the  plan  to  take  my  place  on  the  committee." 

Dr.  Davis  took  this  occasion  to  draw  the  attention  of 
the  American  Board  to  one  of  the  causes  of  this  movement 
away  from  their  denomination  by  the  Japanese  churches, 
namely,  that  some  recognition  of  the  church  in  Japan  by 
the  Congregational  body  in  the  United  States  was  neces- 
sary to  help  to  bind  them  to  the  home  body  and  strengthen 
their  sense  of  entity.  He  feared  lest  the  very  element  in 
the  Congregational  polity  which  he  most  admired,  its  inde- 
pendence, would  become  the  undoing  of  the  Japanese 
church,  unless  a  definite  relationship  with  other  bodies 
of  the  same  denomination  could  be  effected.  "If  some 
plan  could  be  arranged  by  which  Japanese  Christians  who 
are  members  of  Congregational  churches  may  be  recog- 
nized as  Congregationalists,  it  would  be  a  source  of  strength 
to  the  work  in  Japan." 


CHAPTER  XV 
"  REACTION  " 

THE  new  decade  opened  with  an  irreparable  loss  to  the 
Doshisha  in  the  death  of  its  beloved  president.  Dr. 
Neesima,  in  spite  of  failing  strength,  had  for  fifteen 
years  carried  the  executive  burden  of  the  school.  In  the 
fall  of  1889,  while  working  in  Tokyo  for  an  endowment 
fund,  he  was  taken  with  serious  symptoms  and  after  a  short 
illness  passed  away  at  the  age  of  forty-seven  in  the  seaside 
town  of  Oiso,  near  Yokohama.  It  seemed  to  Dr.  Davis  in 
the  loss  of  this  friend  as  if  the  sheet-anchor  of  the  Dosh- 
isha was  gone,  for  he  well  knew  the  priceless  nature  of  the 
service  that  Dr.  Neesima  had  rendered  the  whole  enter- 
prise. Together  they  had  faced  the  opposition  of  Govern- 
ment and  priests;  together  they  had  prayed  and  struggled 
through  the  years  when  the  life  of  the  school  hung  in  the 
balance.  They  had  leaned  upon  each  other,  supplement- 
ing one  another  to  a  remarkable  degree.  They  had  seen 
eye  to  eye  in  nearly  all  the  important  problems  connected 
with  the  growth  of  the  Doshisha,  and  they  shared  the  same 
consuming  passion  that  it  might  become  a  prolific  source 
of  the  future  spiritual  workmen  of  Japan. 

Some  thought  them  a  strangely  mated  pair,  "  the  father 
and  the  mother  of  the  Doshisha,"  as  they  were  called;  the 
tense,  energetic,  explosive  soldier  missionary  and  the  gentle, 
steadfast,  yet  no  less  intense  Japanese  educator,  burning 
with  an  exalted  purpose  that  his  country  should  be  re- 
deemed through  this  Christian  college.  Of  Dr.  Neesima's 
death,  he  makes  comment  in  his  diary:  —  "  I  doubt  if  Mr. 
Neesima's  place  in  the  Doshisha  can  ever  fully  be  filled.  .  .  . 
The  secret  of  his  great  success  was  not  his  intellect  nor  his 

215 


216  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

executive  ability,  which  were,  perhaps,  above  the  average.  It 
lay  in  his  strong  faith,  love  and  zeal;  in  his  perseverance  and 
patience;  and  these  came  not  naturally,  but  because  he 
had  God  with  him.  He  did  all  things  through  Christ, 
who  strengthened  him.  He  had  a  high  aim,  and  a  holy 
ambition  to  carry  it  out,  from  which  no  difficulty  could 
turn  him.  He  was  conscious  that  God  was  with  Him,  that 
his  purpose  was  in  harmony  with  God's,  that  his  ambition 
was  like  Christ's.  He  trusted  not  his  own  strength,  but 
wrestled  continually  with  God  in  prayer,  to  use  him  and 
give  his  aim  success."  Speaking  of  the  constructive  ability 
and  self-control  of  the  Japanese  leader,  he  said:  —  "Stand- 
ing here  for  eight  years  between  two,  three  and  even  four 
opposing  factions,  fired  into  by  the  whole  of  them  and  hav- 
ing to  just  stand  and  take  it  from  them  all,  without  answer- 
ing back  or  breaking  with  any  of  them,  he  has  borne  a 
greater  strain  than  falls  to  a  dozen  ordinary  men  in  one 
generation." 

The  Japanese  reaction  of  the  nineties  against  western 
influences  and  thought  found  its  inception  in  the  crest  of 
the  pro-foreign  wave  that  swept  the  nation  in  the  previous 
decade  and  which,  like  most  extreme  movements,  had  soon 
spent  its  force.  Intense  application  in  the  school  of  foreign 
civilization  had  opened  the  eyes  of  the  people  to  the  flaws 
as  well  as  the  glories  of  western  culture.  They  found  that 
Anglo-Saxon  life  could  not  be  slipped  on,  "in  to  to,"  as  a 
garment,  and,  moreover,  that  it  had  unsuspected  deficiencies. 
The  irritation  caused  by  the  presence  of  extra-territorial 
courts  in  the  treaty  ports,  and  the  growing  realization  that 
the  treaty  powers  had  taken  advantage  of  Japan's  lack  of 
experience  in  matters  of  revenue  tariff  and  perpetual  leases, 
was  extreme  and  swelled  the  tide  of  the  anti-foreign  spirit. 
With  this  awakening  there  was  growing  a  consciousness  of 
power  which  protested  against  the  dominance  of  a  foreign 
regime.  With  the  promulgation  of  the  Constitution  in  1890 


"  REACTION  "  217 

a  new  era  of  democracy  was  opening  which  was  marked 
by  the  discounting  of  western  influence  and  the  conserva- 
tion of  the  best  of  the  old  Japanese  life. 

Popular  thought  regarding  religion  and  philosophy  did 
not  escape  this  national  trend.  Materialism,  never  far 
separated  from  the  philosophy  of  Confucius,  was  in  the  air. 
The  educated  classes  in  Japan,  for  centuries  under  the  in- 
fluence of  the  Chinese  sage,  were  naturally  inclined  to 
Materialism  and  found  insuperable  difficulties  in  the  ac- 
ceptance of  the  so-called  "  supernatural."  They  bulwarked 
the  theories  of  Huxley  and  Spencer  with  their  own  Confu- 
cian philosophy  and  considered  themselves  emancipated 
from  the  "  superstitions  "  of  all  religion. 

Materialistic  and  radical  literature,  circulated  in  large 
quantities  among  the  people,  began  to  cool  the  religious 
interest  of  the  previous  decade.  Among  church  leaders 
there  grew  a  passion  for  the  new  in  Theology.  The  tide 
of  higher  criticism  and  speculation  which  was  approaching 
its  flood  in  Europe  and  America  completely  charmed  the 
Japanese  students  who  went  abroad,  and  they  returned  to 
their  native  land  thoroughly  imbued  with  radical  theories, 
believing  them  well  suited  to  a  nation  that,  like  Japan, 
had  discarded  the  old  for  the  new.  The  rapid  growth  of 
church  membership  was  checked,  several  prominent  pastors 
who  had  led  in  the  previous  advance  of  evangelical  Chris- 
tianity now  left  the  pastorate  and,  in  some  cases,  turned 
squarely  against  the  Truth  which  they  had  been  foremost 
in  teaching;  others  continued  their  ministry  with  so  much 
of  doubt  and  coldness  in  their  preaching  as  to  stagger  the 
spiritual  life  of  their  churches;  the  religious  press  was 
filled  with  speculation  and  attacks  upon  evangelical  founda- 
tions of  faith;  Christianity  was  stigmatized  as  a  foreign 
religion,  and  missionaries  were  accused  of  having  taught 
obsolete  husks  of  truth,  while  Christians  were  urged  to  find 
for  themselves  the  meat  of  the  whole  matter.  A  Japoni- 


218  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

cized  Christianity,  based  upon  Confucian  ethics,  and  com- 
bining the  best  elements  of  all  religions;  a  popular  eclecti- 
cism, was  urged,  as  the  "  sine  qua  non,"  for  Japan. 

This  wave  of  reaction  dealt  the  Doshisha  a  heavy  blow. 
The  school  had  experienced  an  era  of  extraordinary  pros- 
perity. Within  a  decade,  its  enrollment  had  increased 
fourfold,  its  buildings  from  four  to  fourteen  and  its  en- 
dowment from  nil  to  $165,000.  From  being  an  object  of 
hatred  and  opposition,  it  had  passed  to  a  position  of  favor 
with  local  and  imperial  governments,  and  it  enjoyed  a  place 
of  prestige  and  leadership  among  the  Christian  schools  in 
the  empire. 

It  had  not,  however,  escaped  the  change  incident  to  rapid 
expansion  and  material  prosperity.  The  School  of  Science, 
built  and  endowed  through  the  generous  gift  of  Mr.  Harris, 
of  New  London,  Ct.,  a  personal  friend  of  Dr.  Learned,  had 
substantially  strengthened  the  Doshisha,  and  was  now 
manned  by  specialists.  The  little  band  of  teachers  which, 
in  the  early  days,  had  been  welded  together  by  the  common 
struggle  for  existence  and  was  permeated  with  a  central  evange- 
listic purpose,  had  grown  to  a  large  faculty  composed  of  diverse 
elements.  The  same  spiritual  fervor  could  hardly  be  main- 
tained under  the  new  conditions;  it  was  natural  that  pro- 
fessors should  be  absorbed  in  their  laboratories  and  re- 
search rather  than  in  the  soul's  salvation  of  their  students. 
On  the  other  hand,  teachers  complained  that  the  rules  were 
too  severe  and  lent  themselves  to  infringement. 

Dr.  Davis  felt  the  condition  of  the  school  as  keenly  as 
though  it  had  been  that  of  a  son.  He  urged  that  the 
rules,  if  impossible  of  enforcement,  should  be  abolished, 
but  that  as  long  as  they  stood,  the  honor  of  the  Doshisha 
and  the  integrity  of  students  and  teachers,  alike,  demanded 
their  strict  observance.  It  cut  him  to  the  quick  to  see  the 
class-prayer  meetings  and  chapel  prayers  neglected,  the 
apparent  lack  of  interest  shown  by  many  of  the  teachers  in 


"  REACTION  "  219 

the  spiritual  welfare  of  the  students,  and  the  more  worldly 
atmosphere  that  was  entering  the  school. 

One  of  the  clearest  indications  of  the  changed  spirit  of 
the  Doshisha  occurred  during  the  visit  of  Captain  Janes  in 
1893.  Several  of  his  old  pupils,  now  professors  in  the 
college,  had  felt  deeply  that  when  Captain  Janes  had  been 
in  trouble  in  the  United  States  some  of  the  missionaries, 
and,  especially,  Dr.  Davis,  had  not  duly  supported  his 
cause,  and  now  when  their  beloved  teacher  came  to  deliver 
a  course  of  lectures  in  the  Doshisha,  they  naturally  were 
inclined  to  lionize  him.  In  his  lectures  before  the  student 
body,  "  he  denounced  theological  instruction,  criticized  the 
Church  as  the  enemy  of  progress  and  liberty,  sneered  at 
missionaries,  denied  the  existence  of  a  personal  God  and 
ridiculed  fundamental  Christian  doctrines.  The  foreign 
teachers  remonstrated  with  the  person,  who  in  the  absence 
of  the  president,  was  in  charge  of  the  school,  but  he  refused 
to  interfere  with  the  liberty  of  the  students  to  have  such 
lectures  as  they  desired.  Fortunately,  the  students  them- 
selves, after  two  or  three  lectures,  were  unwilling  to  listen 
to  more.  They  went  to  the  lecturer,  saying  they  did  not 
care  to  have  the  course  continued,  and  one  of  the  advanced 
pupils,  who  had  acted  as  interpreter,  made  a  public  apology 
for  having  aided  a  person  who  was  trying  to  tear  down 
what  Dr.  Neesima  had  built  up." l  "  As  time  went  on,  the 
missionaries  felt  more  and  more  that  their  influence  was 
being  undermined,  especially  by  some  of  the  teachers  who, 
at  the  morning  chapel  exercises,  in  the  class  room  and  in 
public  journals,  ridiculed  them  and  their  teaching.  The 
missionaries  were  not  alone  in  considering  that  the  school 
was  proving  unfaithful  to  the  principles  on  which  it  had 
been  founded,  for  many  of  its  alumni  and  friends  grieved 
over  what  was  being  done.2  Dr.  Davis  had  not  been  blind 

» Gary,  "  A  History  of  Christianity  in  Japan,"  p.  257. 
8  Ibid. 


220  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

to  the  approaching  reaction.  Four  years  before,  in  1888, 
he  had  written:  "  I  believe  we  are  to  soon  enter  a  period 
of  fierce  theological  controversy  in  Japan  which  will  try 
men's  souls  and  have  very  far-reaching  results."  May  3rd, 
1890,  he  wrote:  "  The  next  few  years  are  going  to  be  try- 
ing ones  for  the  school;  Mr.  Neesima's  death  and  the  re- 
action that  is  upon  us,  added  to  great  pecuniary  distress, 
will  diminish  our  students.  There  is  a  wide  discussion 
going  on  in  the  Japanese  religious  papers  in  regard  to  inspira- 
tion. .  .  .  God's  truth  will  come  off  victorious  at  last,  but 
I  do  not  want  German  history  repeated  in  Japan.  The 
present  reaction  is  a  healthy  one;  it  is  going  temporarily 
too  far,  but  the  church  will  soon  come  back  again,  not  to 
the  old  place,  but  to  a  better  one.  The  anti-foreign  spirit 
is  not  widespread.  It  is  not  found  in  the  interior,  but  only 
among  a  few  leaders  who  are  disparaging  the  Theology 
taught  by  the  missionaries.  The  time  of  great  demand  for 
missionaries  to  teach  in  schools  is  largely  gone  by,  but 
there  never  has  been  a  time  in  the  history  of  our  work 
when  there  was  such  a  call  for  preaching  missionaries,  and 
the  demand  is  likely  to  increase  for  many  years." 

In  the  midst  of  the  first  spring  after  Dr.  Neesima's 
death,  when  the  outlook  was  disconcerting,  he  wrote  hope- 
fully to  Boston:  —  "The  annual  meeting  of  the  Doshisha 
Board  of  Trustees  has  just  been  held,  and  as  one  of  the 
three  associate  missionary  members  of  the  Board,  it  was 
my  privilege  to  attend.  They  were  three  intensely  interest- 
ing days.  The  ten  trustees  were  all  present  and  took  hold 
of  the  business  with  an  intelligent  interest  which  is  encour- 
aging. I  reached  home  at  midnight,  tired,  but  profoundly 
thankful  that  God  had  raised  up  such  men  to  care  for  the 
school." 

As  time  passed  on  with  no  appreciable  change  in  the 
religious  condition  of  the  churches  and  the  Doshisha,  Dr. 
Davis  wrote  an  appeal  to  the  professors  and  students, 


"  REACTION  "  221 

sending  a  copy  to  each  teacher  and  upper  class  man.  He 
pled  for  a  warmer  religious  spirit  as  the  only  hope  of  the 
college.  "  Great  as  is  the  need  of  the  school  for  a  closer 
union  and  fellowship  between  teachers  and  students,  and 
great  as  is  the  need  of  an  endowment,  there  is  one  need 
still  more  fundamental.  Without  a  strengthening  of  the 
moral  tone  of  the  school,  a  deepening  of  its  spiritual  life, 
a  warming  of  its  love  to  God  and  man,  a  quickening  of 
its  faith  in  Christ  and  a  revivifying  of  all  the  spiritual 
powers  of  its  professed  Christians,  there  is  little  hope  for 
its  future.  .  .  .  The  splendid  support  received  in  the  past, 
was  by  no  means  because  of  Dr.  Neesima's  name  and  in- 
fluence, alone;  it  was  because  Doshisha  trained  men  of  like 
spirit  as  Dr.  Neesima.  If  the  school  turns  out  men  who 
have  little  moral  purpose  and  who  find  no  valuable  work 
to  do  in  the  world,  it  will  lose  the  interest  of  its  friends 
both  here  and  abroad.  .  .  .  No  college  can  rise  higher  than 
its  faculty,  intellectually,  morally  or  spiritually.  What  I 
have  to  say  applies  as  much  to  myself  as  to  anyone.  I  do 
not  say  that  we  are,  as  a  faculty,  cold  and  spiritually  inert, 
but  the  impression  is  abroad  that  we  are.  ...  At  any  rate, 
of  what  good  is  a  fire  unless  it  warms  somebody,  unless  it 
spreads  to  something  else  by  contact?  It  seems  to  me,  and 
I  include  myself  in  this,  that  we  must  have  our  hearts  power- 
fully revivified  with  the  love  of  Christ,  if  we  are  to  kindle  the 
school.  It  is  with  fear  and  trembling  that  I  make  this 
appeal  to  ourselves." 

The  missionaries  were  not  alone  in  their  concern  for  the 
religious  life  of  the  Doshisha;  Principal  Kozaki  was  troub- 
led at  the  lack  of  response  on  the  part  of  the  teachers  to 
the  spiritual  needs  of  the  college  and  had  many  conferences 
with  his  foreign  faculty  members  regarding  it.  The  Kyoto 
Station,  too,  was  deeply  concerned.  Dr.  Davis  wrote, 
January  2nd,  1892:  "Mr.  Learned  and  I  have  called  a 
meeting  of  our  station,  tomorrow,  to  pray  over  the  mat- 


222  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

ter.  We  had  two  good  meetings  on  Saturday,  the  anni- 
versary of  Dr.  Neesima's  death,  and  Mr.  Miyagawa  made 
a  ringing  speech  on  the  need  of  the  school.  I  am  glad  he 
is  one  of  the  trustees."  He  wrote  long  and  troubled  letters 
concerning  the  Unitarian  views  and  liberal  conduct  that 
were  gaining  ground  in  and  out  of  the  Doshisha,  but  al- 
ways closed  with  an  expression  of  that  broad  Christian 
charity  which  softened  his  naturally  stern  judgments. 

In  closing  one  of  these  letters,  he  said:  "  I  suppose  we 
should  not  be  so  much  surprised  as  I  have  been.  When 
Christian  Americans  who  have  a  thousand  years  of  Chris- 
tian training  behind  them  have  intellectual  doubts,  usually, 
they  have  a  moral  foundation  deep  enough,  so  that  if  their 
heads  go  wrong  their  hearts  will  remain  right,  until  their 
heads  have  time  to  right  themselves ;  but  here  there  is  no  such 
history  behind  our  Christians,  nor  a  Christian  experience 
and  environment  to  hold  them,  and  they  are  led  to  do 
things  in  the  name  of  progress  and  freedom  that  grieve  and 
astonish  us  all.  I  realize,  as  I  never  have  before,  that  we 
must  be  patient  and  hold  on  to  them  and  be  willing  to  help 
them  for  another  generation,  if  necessary,  to  keep  steadily 
along  the  solid  Christian  foundations  that  have  been  laid." 

In  April,  1892,  Dr.  Davis  was  requested  by  the  Kyoto 
Station  to  write  the  Annual  Report  of  the  American  Board 
Mission  in  Japan.  Realizing  that  it  was  a  delicate  task  he 
asked  the  station  to  hear  and  criticize  his  report,  and,  no 
alterations  being  made,  it  was  published.  To  correctly 
report  the  religious  life  of  a  school  like  the  Doshisha  was 
an  extremely  difficult  undertaking  for  a  missionary,  but 
it  was  handled  with  his  usual  candor.  The  Japanese 
faculty  objected  to  his  statements  relating  to  the  lowered 
moral  tone  of  the  school,  its  lax  discipline  and  the  sense 
of  non-responsibility  of  the  teachers  for  the  religious  welfare 
of  the  students,  and  Dr.  Davis  was  charged  with  having 
purposely  misrepresented  facts.  This  was  the  beginning 


"REACTION"  223 

of  a  series  of  charges  now  brought  against  him  by  the 
liberal  wing  of  the  Doshisha  and  its  supporters.  Except 
when  asked  to  substantiate  his  statements  by  definite  facts, 
he  made  no  reply  to  his  opponents.  He  said:  "  It  is  a  new 
experience  for  me  to  be  criticised  by  the  Japanese  and  it 
is  doing  me  good.  I  have  hitherto  been  too  much  praised 
by  them.  The  whole  matter  of  the  report  is  turning  out 
for  the  furtherance  of  the  Gospel  and  is  doing  ten  times  as 
much  good  as  I  expected.  I  never  began  a  school  year 
with  a  braver  or  happier  heart,  or  one  more  at  rest.  One 
hundred  and  eighty-three  new  students  have  passed  en- 
trance examinations  and  we  look  forward  with  hope  into 
the  coming  year." 

Of  the  fourteen  distinct  charges  which  were  preferred 
against  Dr.  Davis  at  this  time,  the  more  important  were :  — 
his  alleged  neglect  of  Captain  Janes  on  the  occasion  of  his 
last  furlough;  the  facts  in  reference  to  the  spiritual  condi- 
tion of  the  Doshisha,  included  in  the  Annual  Report  of 
the  Doshisha;  his  place  of  leadership  in  opposing  the  Union 
Movement;  his  cowardice  in  not  daring  to  follow  progres- 
sive leaders  in  the  New  Theology;  the  reaction  in  both 
Doshisha  and  the  Kumi-ai  Church  due,  largely,  to  the  puri- 
tanical spirit  and  dead  theology  with  which  they  were 
started,  and  for  which  he  was  held  chiefly  responsible;  and, 
finally,  his  opposition  to  the  efforts  for  radical  independence 
resulting  in  the  defeat  of  that  movement.  In  a  letter  to 
the  members  of  the  mission,  after  explaining  the  charges 
that  were  laid  at  his  door  and  asking  their  prayers  that  he 
should  not  become  proud  at  the  importance  that  they  might 
indicate  was  his,  he  said:  —  "While  I  am  conscious  of 
many  sins  and  great  deficiencies,  I  feel,  in  regard  to  the 
above  fourteen  charges,  absolutely  blameless." 

However,  the  very  men  who  attacked  him  most  reso- 
lutely, who  had  broken  most  completely  with  him  in  their 
thinking  and  policies,  could  not  forget  the  close  relation  in 


224  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

which  Dr.  Davis  had  stood  to  them.  A  member  of  the 
Kumamoto  Band  and  a  leader  in  the  independence  move- 
ment made  the  following  touching  appeal:  —  "Mr.  Davis, 
I  cannot  but  be  sorry  that  you  do  not  go  on  with  us.  Why 
should  not  we,  who  once  met  together  as  father  and  chil- 
dren in  Christ,  go  on  in  hope,  joy  and  perfect  sympathy  ? 
In  union  question,  you  left  us;  in  the  progress  of  Theology 
you  dare  not  come.  Captain  Janes  told  us  to  trust  you. 
You  were  three  years  our  comforter  after  he  left  us,  but 
ever  since  we  could  not  go  on  in  hearty  sympathy.  Among 
sorrows  of  the  world,  what  you  and  we  have  been  experi- 
encing for  many  years  is,  I  think,  one  of  the  greatest. 
With  what  comfort  should  we  comfort  you.  It  seems  to 
me  while  all  others  are  striving  to  separate  you  from  us  or 
us  from  you,  there  is  one  thing  remaining  which  can  still 
unite  you  and  us  in  Christ;  that  is  the  spirit  of  self-sacri- 
fice. As  we  wounded  each  other  in  secret  suffering  it  is, 
I  think,  very  hard  to  understand  each  other  now.  How 
unhappy  we  feel.  Still,  I  hope  you  will  again  be  a  binding 
force  in  this  crisis  between  missionaries  and  us,  as  you  were 
fifteen  years  ago.  My  teacher,  my  second  father,  stand 
with  us,  strive  with  us,  hold  us,  become  one  of  us.  Board 
and  missionaries  never  leave  you  alone.  I  would  God  that 
you  will  be  ours,  and  we  yours  in  Christ  and  his  life." 
That  he  realized  this  deep-seated  bond  seems  clear.  "There 
are  a  few  of  these  men  who  are  piling  everything  they  can 
on  me  just  now.  But  the  same  men  who  hold  apparently 
some  personal  feeling  against  me  have,  I  believe,  too  much 
of  love  and  respect  buried  in  their  hearts  for  these  feelings 
to  last  long.  ...  I  believe  that  love  will  conquer." 

Dr.  Davis  was  too  sensitive  a  man  to  bear,  without 
wincing,  such  intense  opposition  from  such  sources;  he  was 
also  too  sensible  to  ignore  charges  which  involved  the  pros- 
perity of  the  church  and  the  Doshisha.  The  thought  that 
the  reactionary  movement  might  be,  in  a  partial  degree, 


"  REACTION  "  225 

traced  to  a  rebound  from  his  conservative  Theology  came 
with  stunning  force  to  him.  To  be  told  that  he  had  driven 
his  leading  students  into  extreme  views  that  were  influenc- 
ing the  whole  Japanese  church  brought  sleepless  nights  and 
agonizing  days.  He  wrote  a  letter  of  resignation  from  his 
chair  in  the  Doshisha,  but  instead  of  immediately  present- 
ing it  he  concluded  to  rely  upon  the  judgment  of  his  col- 
leagues. To  them  he  said:  —  "Is  it  wise  for  me  to  con- 
tinue to  teach  Theology?  Having  reached  deep  convictions 
I  cannot  teach  contrary  to  them,  but  I  can  stop  teaching 
in  the  Doshisha,  and  I  must  stop  if  these  men  express  the 
general  feeling  in  regard  to  what  I  teach.  I  have  realized 
that  I  was  laying  foundations  in  accordance  with  which, 
under  God,  the  whole  spiritual  temple  here  was  to  be  built. 
I  have  felt  crushed  with  the  sense  of  the  responsibility,  but 
it  may  be  well  for  a  younger  man,  better  fitted  for  the 
work,  to  take  my  place.  I  am  not  wedded  to  this  school 
and  can  be  just  as  happy  in  the  work  of  direct  evangelism, 
when  it  is  thought  I  can  be  spared  here." 

The  spirit  of  independence  and  a  desire  for  entire  separa- 
tion from  the  mission  had  continued  to  grow  among  some 
of  the  Japanese  leaders.  They  were  dissatisfied  that  the 
mission  should  stand  between  themselves  and  the  American 
Christian  public.  The  missionaries  were  said  to  be  holding 
the  position  of  a  "  House  of  Lords  "  with  the  Japanese 
as  the  "  House  of  Commons."  Finally,  a  committee  waited 
upon  Dr.  Davis  and  presented  three  definite  propositions: 
first,  that  the  mission  help  to  make  the  Japanese  and 
foreign  public  understand  that  the  Kumi-ai  Church  was 
independent;  second,  that  the  missionaries  become  members 
of  Japanese  churches  and  put  themselves  under  the  full 
direction  of  the  Japanese;  third,  that  the  Japanese  confer- 
ence make  the  Annual  Report  to  the  American  Board,  ask 
for  appropriations  and  divide  the  money. 

Dr.   Davis  urged   that  no  sudden  break  be  made.     He 


226  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

pointed  to  the  fact  that  the  Kumi-ai  Church,  already,  had 
entire  independence  and  that  moral  influence  alone  was 
exerted  by  the  American  Board  in  its  work  in  Japan;  that 
in  putting  property  and  power  into  the  hands  of  the  Jap- 
anese his  Board  had  been  criticized  not  only  in  Japan,  but 
by  missions  in  other  countries;  that  it  was  the  first  time 
that  this  had  been  done  in  modern  missions  and  that  the 
world  was  watching  the  result.  He  assured  the  committee 
that  the  mission  would  gladly  cooperate  in  matters  of 
location  and  work,  but  that  such  cooperation  should  also 
include  a  joint  management  of  funds  appropriated  for  the 
general  work.  He  believed,  moreover,  that  it  would  approve 
of  their  sending  their  own  report  to  the  Board,  in  addition 
to  the  mission  report.  He  urged,  above  all,  the  necessity 
of  heart  unity  and  of  acting  slowly  in  a  movement  with 
whose  ultimate  success  he  was  in  entire  sympathy,  but  that 
he  was  convinced  that  speedy  action  would  be  fatal.  "  Let 
us  show  our  love,  sympathy  and  readiness  to  work  under 
their  direction,  as  much  as  possible,"  he  wrote  to  a  colleague. 
"  Do  not  be  moved  by  the  transient  moods  of  a  few  of 
these  leaders,  but  wait  until  the  body  of  Christians  moves 
in  a  given  direction  and  stays  of  the  same  mind  twelve 
consecutive  months.  We  need  to  teach  them  stability  and 
perseverance  by  not  being  too  easily  moved  ourselves. 
.  .  .  The  feeling  of  independence  is  a  good  sign,  though 
it  may  be  carried  too  fast  and  too  far.  Still,  we  must  rec- 
ognize the  fact,  and  we  ought  to  be  glad  to  recognize  it, 
that,  henceforth,  we  must  decrease  and  that  they  must 
increase." 

The  rank  and  file  of  the  Japanese  pastors  took  issue  with 
the  radical  leaders  upon  the  independence  question.  Dr. 
Davis  was  in  receipt  of  letters  from  Kumi-ai  men  in  differ- 
ent parts  of  the  country,  during  1893  and  1894,  which 
cheered  him  and  strengthened  his  conviction  that  the  work 
was  passing  through  a  heavy  squall  and  would  eventually 


"REACTION"  227 

right  itself.  One  pastor  said:  "Though  I  think  indepen- 
dence itself  is  a  good  thing,  I  have  no  sympathy  with  the 
movement  for  independence  which  is  carried  on  by  a  few 
Kumi-ai  ministers,  and  which,  in  my  opinion,  is  the  prod- 
uct of  a  narrow,  anti-foreign  spirit.  Do  not  be  dis- 
couraged because  a  few  ministers  express  hostility.  There 
are  among  us  thoughtful  men  who  understand  the  position 
of  you  missionaries  and  who  have  a  friendly  feeling  toward 
you.  There  was  a  time  when  our  people  wished  to  kill 
missionaries,  and  even  at  such  a  time  you  never  said, 
1  Then  we  will  go  home.'  A  few  Kumamoto  men  are  not 
the  representatives  of  the  Kumi-ai  churches.  You  must 
not  take  the  matter  too  seriously.  The  time  has  not  yet 
come  when  we  break  our  relation  with  the  American 
Churches." 

No  one  rejoiced  more  heartily  than  Dr.  Davis  over  the 
practical  outgrowths  of  this  independence  agitation  which 
became  rapidly  manifest  within  the  Church.  In  1895,  the 
Kumi-ai  churches  decided  to  rely  upon  themselves  for  the 
future  support  of  their  Missionary  Society,  which,  up  to 
this  time,  had  received  large  subsidies  from  the  American 
Board.  The  result  has  been  the  substantial  development 
of  the  work  of  the  society,  in  which  the  missionaries  have 
steadily  cooperated  upon  the  invitation  of  the  Japanese. 
The  growth  of  independent  churches  was  also  powerfully 
stimulated  during  these  years,  and  though  some  were  led 
to  decline  outside  aid  prematurely,  it  is  clear  that  the  inde- 
pendence movement,  difficult  as  it  was  to  confine  within 
normal  bounds,  marked  an  epoch  in  the  history  of  Chris- 
tianity in  Japan  which  has  opened  up  new  springs  of  power 
and  blessing  to  the  church. 

As  a  relief  to  the  strain  of  these  anxious  months  his  evan- 
gelistic tours,  during  week  ends,  and  on  longer  occasions, 
were  very  effective.  Here,  immersed  in  the  work  upon 
which  his  heart  was  centered,  he  found  peace  of  spirit  and 


228  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

a  supreme  satisfaction.  The  eagerness  of  the  rural  Chris- 
tians for  spiritual  food  and  their  earnest  cooperation  in  his 
tours,  the  useful  work  in  which  he  found  the  Doshisha 
graduates  very  generally  engaged  and  the  cordial  greetings 
extended  to  him,  all  warmed  his  heart.  The  open-minded- 
ness  of  the  people  and  the  vast  country  areas  still  unevan- 
gelized,  deeply  impressed  him.  It  is  probable  that  without 
this  outlet  for  the  expression  of  his  evangelistic  zeal  and 
the  enlarged  horizon  which  these  tours  provided,  he  could 
hardly  have  had  the  courage  to  hold  on.  Contact  with  a 
wide  circle  of  believers,  together  with  concrete  evidence  of 
the  power  of  the  old  Gospel  to  save  men,  offset  the  dis- 
couragement and  sense  of  defeat  which  came  to  him  in  the 
vortex  of  discussion  and  criticism  which  surrounded  him  in 
Kyoto. 

Another  problem  of  this  period  was  a  growing  sentiment 
in  the  mission  and  among  the  home  constituency  that  the 
time  had  come  to  reduce  the  mission  work  and  to  gradually 
withdraw  from  Japan.  The  Japanese  Church  had  at- 
tained such  strength  and  aggressiveness  that  it  was  believed 
that  the  gradual  reduction  of  missionary  forces  would  prove 
a  stimulus  to  the  indigenous  spread  of  Christianity.  Such 
was  the  opposition  of  many  leaders  to  missionaries  and  the 
difficulty  of  cooperation,  that  a  further  increase  of  foreign 
workers  seemed  likely  to  accentuate  the  existing  irritation 
and  to  further  retard  the  work. 

He  placed  himself  with  great  earnestness  against  this 
policy,  urging  that  the  independence  movement  was  abor- 
tive, that  the  reaction  against  foreign  cooperation  was  tem- 
porary, that  Japan  was  not  only  far  from  being  redeemed, 
but  that  to  withdraw  at  that  time  was  to  leave  the  devel- 
opment of  the  field  in  the  hands  of  men  who  had  proved 
their  unfitness  to  assume  control.  He  wrote,  September 
30th,  1893:  "I  have  seen  another  broadside  in  the  '  Con- 
gregationalist,'  from  Japan,  to  the  effect  that  the  time  is 


"  REACTION  "  229 

drawing  near  when  the  work  of  the  Board  must  be  closed 
out  here.  I  deprecate  such  statements;  they  are  doing 
incalculable  harm.  .  .  .  These  present  waves  will  soon  sub- 
side I!  It  is  a  mistake  to  give  the  impression  to  the 
churches  that  are  behind  us  that  the  work  of  the  American 
Board  is  nearly  done  here.  They  will  awake  later  to  the 
fact  that  the  forty  millions  of  Japan  are  hardly  touched  by 
Christianity,  that  it  will  take  from  twenty  to  fifty  years 
yet,  more  likely  the  longer  term,  if  the  foreign  and  Japa- 
nese forces  cordially  co-operate,  to  fully  evangelise  these 
millions.  The  few  leaders  among  the  Japanese  and  in  our 
mission  who  are  thinking  of  leaving  the  infant  church  to 
carry  the  work  alone  do  not  grasp  the  greatness  of  the 
task,  nor  the  infinite  peril  which  hangs  over  individual 
souls.  ...  It  may  take  more  consecration  to  work  in 
Japan,  now,  than  to  go  to  Africa.  It  may  be  that  one 
must  be  willing  to  become  a  servant  to  a  few  of  the  lead- 
ers and  sometimes  have  his  feelings  rudely  trampled  on, 
but  any  one  with  a  full  knowledge  of  the  situation  and  a 
burning  desire  to  tell  the  story,  and  with  consecration 
enough  to  take  a  humble  place,  learn  the  language  and  be- 
gin direct  work,  will  find  a  hearty  welcome  and  an  open 
door  through  a  lifetime.  Without  a  far  greater  miracle 
than  the  world  has  yet  seen  in  missions,  this  work  is  not 
going  to  be  accomplished  in  one  generation.  I  believe  that 
within  a  few  years  the  Japanese  will  be  calling  as  loudly  as 
ever  for  more  missionaries.  The  young  church  here  needs 
to  be  kept  steady,  the  '  bruised  reed  not  broken  and  the 
smoking  flax  not  quenched,'  till  she  gains  the  victory  over 
all  these  powerful  influences  that  have  so  seriously  inter- 
fered with  her  life  and  growth." 

However  keenly  he  felt  the  loss  to  the  Kingdom  which 
the  reaction  was  bringing  in  Japan,  his  natural  optimism 
and  wide  sweep  of  vision  found  expression  in  even  his 
gloomiest  pictures  of  the  situation.  Standing  out  in  bold 


230  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

contrast,  yet  woven  inextricably,  like  the  warp  and  woof 
of  a  garment,  were  his  sensitiveness,  which  could  not  see 
without  anxiety  and  keen  suffering  the  loss  of  a  single  be- 
liever, and  his  prophetic  vision  and  triumphant  faith  that 
invariably  rallied  to  support  him  in  the  face  of  every  crisis. 
From  an  article  in  the  "Advance,"  of  December,  1893: 
"  Though  there  has  been  much  harm  wrought,  we  believe 
that  the  grand  outcome  of  the  whole  will  be  good  and  for 
the  success  of  the  Kingdom  of  God.  In  spite  of  these 
vicissitudes  we  may  still  thank  God  that  the  young  Church 
of  Christ  has  met  political  excitement,  intense  nationalistic 
feeling  and  insidious  rationalism  without  either  shipwreck 
or  great  disaster.  I  believe  that  the  crisis  in  all  these  move- 
ments, political,  nationalistic  and  rationalistic,  has  been 
passed.  There  is  a  growing  conviction  that  Christianity, 
alone,  can  furnish  the  moral,  steadying  influence  needed  to 
make  representative  government  a  success.  There  is  a 
belief  in  the  hearts  of  pastors  and  church  members  that 
they  need  a  spiritual  Christianity  which  only  a  divine  and 
living  Christ  can  give." 

As  the  year  of  1893  wore  away,  and  the  situation  in 
the  Doshisha  showed  signs  of  an  increased  tension,  the 
difficulty  of  avoiding  a  complete  break  with  the  school 
became  more  and  more  apparent  to  the  American  Board 
Mission.  On  November  5th,  Dr.  Davis  wrote  to  the  Board, 
advising  that  any  further  endowment  funds  should  be  kept 
in  America  until  the  future  of  the  school  was  more  assured: 
"  The  end  is  not  yet,  either  of  our  trials  nor  of  the  work 
of  this  mission." 

Dr.  Davis  left  Japan  upon  his  third  furlough,  April  30th, 
1894.  Tired  from  the  long  strain  under  which  he  had  been 
working,  he  had  again  and  again  considered  resigning  from 
the  Doshisha.  Each  time,  however,  he  had  reconsidered 
the  matter  and  determined  to  await  a  more  rested  condi- 
tion before  attempting  to  decide  such  an  important  ques- 


"  REACTION"  231 

tion.  Before  leaving  the  country,  he  addressed  a  letter  to 
the  Faculty  and  Trustees  asking  if  they  wished  him  to 
continue  teaching  upon  his  return  to  Japan.  He  considered 
that  since  he  had  never  been  called  to  the  Faculty  of  the 
Doshisha  by  a  Board  of  Trustees,  but  had  grown  up  with 
the  school,  and  since  his  views  differed  so  fundamentally 
from  those  of  its  leaders,  that  it  was  only  fair  to  give  them 
a  chance  to  say  whether  they  wished  him  to  continue  in 
the  chair  of  Theology.  Upon  leaving  Japan,  he  packed 
his  household  goods  in  such  a  way  that  they  could  be 
shipped  to  America,  in  case  he  should  not  return.  He  also 
wrote  to  Dr.  Roy,  of  the  American  Home  Missionary 
Society,  putting  his  case  before  him  and  asking  that  he  be 
on  the  lookout  for  a  field  of  work  in  the  South  for  him  in 
the  near  future. 

The  home  journey  was  brightened  by  a  visit  with  friends 
in  Cheyenne,  Wyoming,  where  Dr.  Davis  spoke  at  the 
twenty-fifth  anniversary  of  the  founding  of  his  old  church. 
Of  the  reunion  with  the  three  children  in  Oberlin,  he  wrote: 
—  "  We  reached  Oberlin,  where  our  three  children  were  so 
anxiously  awaiting  our  coming,  at  7.45  P.M.  It  was 
nearly  nine  years  since  I  had  seen  them.  The  girls  looked 
natural,  but  my  son  had  grown  out  of  all  recognition.  I 
had  left  him  a  little  boy  of  eleven;  I  found  him,  a  man, 
four  inches  taller  than  myself,  and  it  was  six  months  before 
it  seemed  as  if  he  belonged  to  me." 

After  a  restful  summer  with  his  family  at  Lake  George, 
N.  Y.,  he  attended  the  annual  meeting  of  the  American 
Board,  visited  his  birthplace  in  Groton,  N.  Y.,  and  settled 
for  the  winter  in  Oberlin,  Ohio.  Here  he  revised  his  lec- 
tures on  Natural  Theology,  the  Evidences  of  Christianity 
and  Systematic  Theology,  and  wrote  many  articles  for  the 
religious  press. 

February,  1895,  found  him  in  Boston,  conferring  with 
the  Prudential  Committee  of  the  American  Board,  Mr. 


232  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

Harris,  the  princely  benefactor  of  the  Doshisha,  and  other 
friends  of  the  school,  trying  to  reassure  them  regarding  its 
future.  Mr.  Harris  told  him  that  he  knew  of  more  than  a 
million  dollars  that  had  been  written  into  wills  for  the 
Doshisha,  which  were  now  being  taken  out  because  of  its 
changed  spirit.  These  repeated  conferences  revealed  the 
anxiety  with  which  the  developments  in  Japan  were  re- 
garded. Dr.  Davis  could  not  see  the  situation  drifting  into 
an  open  break  without  one  more  effort  at  reconciliation. 
He  wrote  to  the  Doshisha  Trustees,  explaining  why  the 
American  Board  was  troubled  and  pointing  out  the  inevi- 
table consequences  of  the  present  policy  of  the  Doshisha. 

His  furlough  closed  with  two  months  of  speaking  through- 
out Ohio,  followed  by  a  Commencement  address  at  Beloit 
and  reunions  with  his  college  class  and  with  his  comrades 
of  the  Fifty-second  Illinois,  at  Elgin. 

As  the  time  drew  near  for  his  return,  Dr.  Davis  ceased 
to  question  whether  he  was  needed  in  Japan,  feeling  sure 
that  he  could  be  happy  and  busy  in  evangelistic  work, 
should  the  Doshisha  be  closed  to  him.  "  I  am  pretty  cer- 
tain that  if  we  will  be  but  patient  and  hold  on  to  God, 
the  mud  will  speedily  settle  to  the  bottom,  and  the  waters 
will  clear.  As  to  my  own  return  to  the  work,  in  some 
capacity,  I  shall  not  ask  any  one's  permission.  My  duty 
is  in  Japan,  and  if  the  Board  should  decide  that  they  could 
not  send  me,  and  if  the  leaders  in  the  Kumi-ai  churches 
should  express  an  opinion  that  I  had  better  not  come,  I 
should  still  feel  called  to  go,  if  any  other  board  would  sup- 
port me.  It  is  hard  to  prophesy  about  the  immediate 
future,  but  God's  Truth,  Christ's  divinity  and  His  King- 
dom can  never  be  moved,  although  some  men  may  be 
moved  away  from  them." 

Upon  the  resignation  of  several  of  the  leading  teachers 
and  officers  of  the  school,  which  occurred  just  prior  to  his 
return  to  Japan,  he  said:  —  "This  open  break  is  made  on 


"  REACTION  "  233 

the  square  issue  of  holding  the  Doshisha  loyal  to  Christ  and 
to  the  purpose  for  which  it  was  founded.  I  feel  encour- 
aged. We  must  support  President  Kozaki  in  the  stand  he 
has  taken.  It  is  no  time  to  withdraw.  It  would  be  as 
unwise,  as  I  see  it,  as  it  would  have  been  had  the  North, 
in  1861,  withdrawn  from  Washington  and  given  up  the 
Union  after  the  defeat  of  Bull  Run.  No,  although  many 
of  our  trusted  leaders  who  have  been  educated  in  Doshisha, 
our  West  Point,  turn  against  the  Truth  and  against  us, 
we  must  not  give  up,  but  rather  call  for  '  300,000  more,' 
and  proceed  to  strengthen  the  things  that  remain." 

Even  as  late  as  August,  1895,  Dr.  Davis  was  unwilling 
to  consider  the  situation  hopeless.  He  believed  in  the 
school  and  in  the  integrity  of  its  Trustees  and  found  it  hard 
to  acknowledge  that  complete  disaster  was  ahead.  He 
wrote  to  Boston,  —  "I  do  not  yet  believe  that  the  Dosh- 
isha Trustees  are  going  to  cut  loose  from  us  nor  from  vital 
Christianity.  It  seems  to  me  better  to  hold  on  quietly,  and 
trust  to  time  to  cool  some  of  them  and  to  the  Spirit  of 
the  Lord  to  open  their  hearts  and  reveal  things  in  a  proper 
light  and  allow  them  to  return  to  sounder  views." 

Dr.  Davis  returned  to  Japan  in  September,  1895,  in  com- 
pany with  a  deputation  from  the  American  Board,  which 
had  been  appointed  to  study  the  problems  of  its  work  in 
Japan.  After  two  months  of  conference  with  prominent 
Japanese  Christians,  missionaries  of  different  societies  and 
Japanese  officials,  they  reported  regarding  Doshisha  a 
marked  concurrence  in  the  opinion  that  a  change  had 
taken  place  in  the  spirit  of  the  institution.  It  was  quite 
generally  affirmed  that  the  Christian  character  and  spiri- 
tual tone  of  the  University  were  far  less  pronounced  than 
formerly. 

The  following  extract  from  the  report  of  the  deputation 
relating  to  a  conference  with  the  Trustees  over  the  inter- 
pretation of  the  clause  in  the  Constitution  making  Christian- 


234  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

ity  the  foundation  of  the  moral  education  of  the  Doshisha, 
is  of  interest.  "  We  asked  if  they  would  affirm  that  the 
Doshisha  stood  for  the  personality  of  God,  the  divinity  of 
Christ,  and  the  future  life.  They  declared  that  they  could 
not.  While  as  individuals  they  could  affirm  these  beliefs, 
as  Trustees  they  could  not,  since  differences  existed  among 
Christians  on  these  points,  and  they  must  not  ally  them- 
selves with  any  party.  When  asked  if  they  would  accept 
the  creed  of  the  Kumi-ai  churches  in  definition  of  the 
sense  in  which  they  used  the  word  Christian,  they  declined, 
saying  that  they  would  thus  identify  themselves  with  a 
single  denomination.  When  urged  to  make  some  state- 
ment, however  brief,  of  what  they  meant  by  Christianity, 
since  the  word  did  not  in  their  minds  involve  the  above 
named  beliefs,  they  declined.  They  said  it  was  not  neces- 
sary; that  having  declared  their  purpose  to  maintain  a 
Christian  institution,  they  should  be  trusted  to  do  so;  that 
to  affirm  the  above  named  beliefs  would  narrow  the  basis 
of  the  university,  would  cause  the  resignation  of  professors 
whose  services  they  did  not  wish  to  lose,  and  would  repel 
students  who  were  now  encouraged  to  enter  the  school  by 
its  spirit  of  free  inquiry.  It  was  carefully  explained  to  the 
Trustees  that  the  American  churches  which  contributed  to 
the  treasury  of  the  Board,  while  not  making  a  test  of  any 
creed,  could  hardly  hold  to  be  Christian  those  persons  or 
institutions  which  refused  to  declare  belief  in  a  personal 
God,  the  divinity  of  Christ  and  the  immortality  of  the  soul. 
The  reply  was  that  the  whole  subject  had  been  a  matter 
of  thought  with  them;  that  theological  opinion  in  Japan 
was  in  a  formative  state  and  beliefs  were  unsettled;  that 
for  this  reason  and  because  it  would  be  disastrous  to  act 
now,  under  appearance  of  compulsion,  they  could  make  no 
statement  whatever,  except  that  they  would  maintain  a 
Christian  university." 
The  deputation  recommended  to  the  Board  that  money 


"  REACTION  "  235 

contributed  for  Christian  education  in  Japan  could  not 
rightly  be  used  indefinitely  by  the  Doshisha,  but  that  for 
the  time  being  the  American  teachers  be  continued,  that 
cooperation  in  the  Theological  Department  remain  as  be- 
fore and  that  the  annual  Board  subsidy  be  gradually  with- 
drawn, ceasing  entirely  within  four  years. 

In  the  report  of  the  Deputation  relating  to  the  Doshisha, 
the  Trustees  believed  that  the  influence  of  the  mission  could 
be  traced.  They  could  not  admit  that  the  real  spirit  of  the 
Doshisha  had  changed,  nor  consent  to  make  the  formal 
declaration  of  their  faith  which  was  insisted  upon  by  the 
Deputation  (as  a  means  of  relieving  the  uncertainty  exist- 
ing in  the  minds  of  American  supporters  of  the  school  re- 
garding its  essential  Christian  purpose).  It  was  natural 
that  the  coming  of  a  foreign  committee  to  examine  into 
the  alleged  mismanagement  of  the  Doshisha  should  be 
resented  by  the  Japanese,  and  the  difficulties  before  such  a 
deputation  in  understanding  the  Japanese  point  of  view 
during  their  brief  stay  in  the  country  were  obvious.  The 
representatives  of  the  American  Board  sailed  for  home 
without  reaching  an  understanding  with  the  Trustees  and 
with  the  conviction  heightened  on  both  sides  of  the  hope- 
lessness of  agreement,  between  the  Doshisha  and  its  foreign 
constituency. 

The  Kumi-ai  churches  were  thoroughly  aroused  by  the 
report  of  the  deputation  and  appointed  a  committee  to 
investigate  and  locate  the  blame  for  the  condition  of  affairs. 
From  the  Japanese  standpoint,  the  honor,  not  only  of  the 
Doshisha  and  the  Kumi-ai  body,  but  of  the  nation,  was  at 
stake;  the  blame  settled  naturally  upon  the  missionaries, 
who,  it  was  reported,  had  failed  to  correctly  interpret  the 
situation  to  the  American  Board,  and  there  the  matter 
rested  for  the  time  being,  but  the  breach  had  been  mea- 
surably widened  and  deepened. 

The  action  of  the  government  of    the  previous  year  in 


236  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

exempting  the  students  of  government  schools  from  the 
maximum  conscription  laws  and  in  granting  other  privileges 
had  been  bringing  powerful  pressure  to  bear  upon  the  Trus- 
tees of  the  Doshisha.  Government  schools  prescribed  the 
teaching  of  religion  as  a  defined  policy,  and  the  question 
of  regular  Biblical  teaching  versus  government  privilege  for 
the  Doshisha  was  coming  to  the  front.  On  April  6th,  1896, 
the  faculty  of  the  Doshisha  voted  to  drop  the  Bible  from 
the  curriculum  of  the  Academy.  A  leading  member  of  the 
faculty,  in  supporting  this  action,  said  that  the  Bible  was 
not  Christianity,  nor  did  it  make  Christianity,  but  that 
Christianity  made  the  Bible,  and  now,  when  so  many 
doubts  were  raised  about  the  Bible,  he  believed  it  would 
be  better  to  drop  it  and  return  to  primitive  Christianity 
and  get  the  Truth  by  direct  inner  consciousness,  through 
the  aid  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 

Succeeding  events  moved  rapidly.  Within  a  week  of  the 
faculty  meeting  whose  decision  was  to  have  such  momen- 
tous results  the  Trustees  took  formal  action  in  deciding  to 
completely  separate  the  school  from  the  American  Board 
the  following  December,  in  so  far  as  money  and  teachers 
were  concerned.  The  causes  of  this  decision  were  the  hope 
to  gain  in  enrollment,  by  securing  equal  privileges  with 
government  schools;  the  well-grounded  fear  lest  without 
such  privileges  the  Doshisha  would  be  ruined;  the  desire 
to  no  longer  be  known  as  a  mission  school,  and  the  belief 
that  the  new  r61e  would  open  up  considerable  sources  of 
Japanese  support.  Finally,  the  Trustees  believed  that  this 
step  would  meet  the  approval  of  liberal-minded  friends  in 
America  who  would  sympathize  with  the  stand  they  were 
taking  and  secure  funds  for  the  maintenance  of  the  school. 

It  was  now  an  open  question  in  the  missionary  faculty 
whether  its  members  should  not  resign  at  once,  even  in 
the  midst  of  the  term.  Dr.  Davis  counselled  deliberate 
action,  urging  that  it  would  be  fair  neither  to  the  school 


"  REACTION"  237 

nor  to  the  Board  to  act  before  hearing  from  Boston,  and 
before  the  mission  could  take  united  action  in  the  matter. 
At  its  annual  meeting  in  July  the  American  Board  Mission 
took  formal  action  in  notifying  the  Trustees  of  the  with- 
drawal of  its  members  from  the  faculty  of  the  Doshisha. 

In  his  reply  to  a  missionary  of  another  Board  working  in 
Japan,  who  asked  him  to  summarize  the  mistakes  of  the 
policy  which  had  led  to  this  disaster,  after  frankly  admit- 
ting certain  mistakes,  he  said:  "It  is  easy  for  men  who 
have  come  later  to  Japan,  and  who  stand  and  look  on,  to 
criticise,  and  to  think  they  could  have  done  a  great  deal 
better.  Perhaps  they  would  have  done  so.  Among  all  the 
trials  of  my  life,  and  I  have  had  a  good  many,  the  greatest 
is  to  be  willing  to  have  my  life  work  judged  a  failure  by 
the  Christian,  the  missionary  world.  I  do  not  believe  that 
God  counts  it  thus.  I  became  willing,  however,  two  years 
ago,  as  the  school  went  down,  to  become  nothing  in  the 
eyes  of  men.  It  has  been  a  blessed  experience,  which  has 
made  me  realize  more  than  ever  before  the  preciousness  of 
the  fact  that  there  is  One  who  knows;  knows  my  every 
thought  and  purpose,  the  tears  and  prayers  and  heartaches 
all  these  twenty-five  years.  That  One  is  mine,  and  He  is 
with  me,  and  He  is  my  judge,  and  not  men,  and  so  I  rest." 

His  suffering  during  these  months  was  acute.  He  felt 
that  the  work  of  twenty-five  years  had  been  wrecked; 
that  the  hundreds  of  letters  which  he  had  written,  pleading 
for  funds  and  for  confidence  in  the  Doshisha,  had  led  the 
American  Board  and  the  Congregational  constituency  into 
the  mistake  of  a  great  illusion.  Yet  even  in  the  midst  of 
anxiety  the  deepest  he  had  experienced,  his  faith  and  indom- 
itable courage  did  not  fail  him.  He  still  believed  that  God 
would  lead  a  way  out.  He  believed  that  he  was  to  have  a 
part  in  finding  that  difficult  path  and  that  his  work  was  not 
yet  done.  He  uttered  the  prophetic  words:  —  "I  see 
nothing  for  it  here,  so  far  as  our  mission  is  concerned,  but 


238  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

for  the  '  Old  Guard  '  to  close  up  as  they  did  around  Napo- 
leon at  Waterloo,  and  fight  till  we  die.  It  will  not  be  a 
Waterloo,  however.  We  shall  gain  the  victory.  It  may 
be  that  with  some  of  us  it  will  be  as  with  Mr.  Harris,  who 
said,  '  We  shall  see  it,  but  not  here;  we  shall  behold  it,  but 
from  above';  but  we  shall  surely  see  it,  and  I  expect  to  see 
a  good  deal  of  it  before  I  am  through  here." 


CHAPTER  XVI 
THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  THE   DOSHISHA 

UPON  his  return  to  Kyoto,  Dr.  Davis  was  given  a 
hearty  welcome  by  the  Japanese  pastors  and  by 
many  teachers  in  the  Doshisha.  He  resumed  his 
teaching  in  the  Theological  Department,  but  a  light  sched- 
ule enabled  him  to  devote  much  of  his  time  to  preaching 
and  evangelistic  touring.  He  was  asked  to  preach  twice  at 
the  Doshisha,  and  although  the  school  was  even  then  upon 
the  eve  of  separation  from  the  mission,  he  was  invited  to 
deliver  the  address  on  the  occasion  of  its  Twentieth  Anni- 
versary. It  was  not  an  easy  task.  He  seized  the  occasion 
to  earnestly  state  that  God  was  the  founder  of  the  Dosh- 
isha, that  it  had  been  sustained  for  twenty  years  by  prayer, 
and  that  its  only  hope  for  future  prosperity  was  in  keeping 
it  true  to  its  original  foundation  as  an  earnest  Christian 
school.  Six  months  later,  in  June,  1886,  with  the  other 
missionary  teachers,  he  ceased  his  work  in  the  Doshisha, 
the  Trustees  severing  at  the  same  time  all  connection  with 
the  American  Board  Mission. 

A  few  months  before  he  had  declined  to  accept  the  posi- 
tion of  honorary  trustee,  urged  upon  him  by  the  Board  of 
Directors  of  the  Doshisha,  who  were  loath  to  see  the 
foreign  element  of  the  school  becoming  alienated.  He  con- 
sidered it  an  anomaly  to  accept  such  an  honor  at  the  hands 
of  many  of  the  same  men  who  had  brought  against  him 
the  unsubstantiated  charges  of  the  previous  year.  His 
reasons  for  leaving  the  Doshisha  are  stated  in  a  letter  to 
the  President:  "  A  year  ago  I  met  with  the  committee  of 
the  Science  School,  and  advised  a  course  of  action  which 
Mr.  Harris  desired.  That  advice  was  not  taken.  In  the 

239 


240  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

meantime,  Mr.  Harris  passed  away.  Last  Fall  I  sent  a 
letter  to  the  Trustees  giving  extracts  of  Mr.  Harris'  last 
letters,  showing  how  grieved  he  was  that  the  Doshisha  did 
not  follow  his  advice.  I  was  put  upon  the  committee  for 
the  Science  School  at  Mr.  Harris*  request.  Under  these 
circumstances,  and  since  the  Doshisha  has  severed  connec- 
tions with  the  American  Board,  it  is  not  best  for  me  to 
work  with  the  committee.  I  shall  be  glad  of  any  success 
that  the  Doshisha  may  gain,  but  I  cannot  cooperate  with 
it  in  its  regular  work  in  any  department.  If  ever  I  am 
desired  to  preach  or  teach  a  Bible  class  or  lecture  on 
spiritual  subjects,  I  shall  be  glad  to  do  so  and  I  shall  be 
glad  to  help  any  students  spiritually  in  any  way  I  can.  .  .  . 
I  do  not  believe  that  God's  blessing  will  rest  upon  the 
Doshisha  until  the  majority  of  its  Board  of  Trustees  are 
earnest  Christian  men  and  until  it  has  similar  men  for  its 
President,  the  heads  of  its  departments  and  a  majority  of 
the  teachers.  There  is  only  one  thing  in  which  the  Dosh- 
isha can  successfully  compete  with  government  schools,  and 
that  is  in  earnest  Christian  influence.  If  that  can  be  kept 
pure  and  strong,  those  who  realize  the  moral  deficiency  of 
government  education  will  send  their  sons  to  Doshisha. 
That  reputation  is  largely  lost.  It  is  a  far  greater  loss 
than  endowments  and  buildings.  You  will  not  agree  with 
me,  but  it  is  due  to  you,  to  the  school,  to  Mr.  Neesima,  to 
Mr.  Harris  and  to  the  thousands  in  America  and  in  Japan 
who  are  mourning  over  the  present  condition  of  the  Dosh- 
isha, that  I  frankly  tell  you  these  things.  I  write  in  the 
memory  of  the  love  and  service  for  Christ  which  have 
united  us  in  the  past,  a  love  which  is  undiminished,  and  in 
the  hope  that  God  will  lead  us  all  into  his  light  and 
truth." 

In  the  fall  of  1896,  the  Kyoto  Station  opened  a  small 
training  class  for  theological  students  under  the  care  of 
Messrs.  Learned  and  Curtis.  This  was  soon  taken  over  by 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  THE  DOSHISHA        241 

the  mission  and  the  following  autumn  a  Mission  Theo- 
logical School  was  formed,  of  which  Dr.  Davis  became 
dean.  A  small  group  of  students  was  gathered,  and  for 
over  two  years  the  school  was  carried  on  independently  of 
the  Doshisha.  The  school  presented  many  problems. 
Theology  was  at  a  discount,  Christianity  at  a  low  ebb  and, 
moreover,  the  school  started  and  managed  by  foreigners 
was  not  popular.  The  promising  students  attracted  under 
these  conditions  were  few,  and  among  those  gathered  from 
distant  parts  of  the  empire  were  cases  of  unworthy  men 
seeking  the  loaves.  But  the  teaching  with  hands  un- 
shackled, and  the  training  of  the  few  students  for  service 
in  a  positive  Christian  environment  was  a  deep  satisfaction. 

The  early  autumn  brought  severe  illness  to  the  Davis 
family.  Two  of  the  children  were  ill  for  many  weeks  with 
typhoid  fever  in  the  summer  camp  on  Hieizan.  Helen's 
case  was  so  unusually  severe  and  protracted  that  physicians 
repeatedly  despaired  of  saving  her  life  during  the  nine 
weeks  in  which  she  was  wasted  by  the  fever.  The  father 
and  mother  worked  with  tireless  energy  to  check  the  exces- 
sive temperature.  Men  were  employed  night  and  day  to 
carry  cold  water  from  a  distant  spring  which  was  circu- 
lated in  coiled  tubes  about  the  head  of  the  little  patient. 
Dr.  Davis  from  first  to  last  took  charge  of  the  case,  and 
scarcely  leaving  the  bedside  for  two  months,  literally  saved 
the  life  of  the  little  daughter  who  had  accompanied  him 
back  to  Japan,  and  to  whom  his  heart  was  always  drawn 
with  especially  tender  ties. 

In  January,  1898,  the  Trustees  of  the  Doshisha  applied 
to  the  Department  of  Education  for  the  privileges  enjoyed 
by  government  schools,  but  were  refused  upon  the  ground 
that  the  Doshisha  was  an  avowedly  religious  institution 
and,  as  such,  was  not  entitled  to  these  privileges.  On  the 
23rd  of  February,  the  Trustees,  in  quarterly  session  at 
Tokyo,  voted  to  strike  out  the  sixth  article  of  the  Consti- 


242  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

tution,  which  stated  that  the  first  five  articles  were  un- 
changeable.1 They  then  rescinded  Article  Two,  which  pro- 
vided that  the  clause  stating  Christianity  to  be  the  moral 
foundation  of  the  school  applied  to  all  departments  of  the 
institution.  This  made  possible  the  exclusion  of  Biblical 
instruction  and  all  religious  exercise  in  the  Academy,  the 
College,  the  School  of  Law  and  Economics  and  the  Scien- 
tific School,  though  the  third  article  still  applied  to  the 
Theological  Department  which  had  now  practically  ceased 
to  exist.  In  this  way  the  Doshisha  would  secure  full 
recognition  by  the  Department  of  Education  with  the 
privileges  of  exemption  from  military  service,  etc. 

In  defence  of  this  action  it  should  be  stated  that  it  was 
an  expression  of  the  extreme  nationalistic  spirit  and  liberal 
religious  views  prevailing  at  the  time.  Two  trustees  regis- 
tered their  protest  against  the  Board's  decision  by  tendering 
their  resignations.  Five  of  the  Board  were  new  members 
and  others  had  lost  vital  interest  in  the  affairs  of  the  Dosh- 
isha. Loyalty  to  their  President  who,  according  to  Japa- 
nese custom,  is  held  responsible  for  corporate  action,  required 
them  to  either  uphold  him  or  resign.  The  only  alternative 
was  to  force  him  to  resign.  They  were  not  prepared  to 
follow  either  of  these  latter  courses.  In  upholding  their 
conduct  it  was  pointed  out  that  the  rights  of  the  large 
non-Christian  Japanese  donors  took  precedence  of  those  of 
foreign  friends;  that  the  views  of  missionaries  should  no 
longer  control,  and  it  was  time  to  decide  whether  the 

1 "  Doshisha  Constitution.    Chapter  One: 

FUNDAMENTAL  PRINCIPLES 

"  1.  This  Company  is  established  to  promote  moral  and  intellectual  education  in 
close  union. 

"  2.  The  name  of  the  Company  is  '  The  Doshisha.'  All  schools  of  the  Company 
must  have  '  Doshisha '  as  a  part  of  their  name,  and  this  Constitution  applies  to  them 

"  3.  Christianity  is  the  foundation  of  the  moral  education  promoted  by  this  Company. 
"  4.  This  Company  is  located  in  Kyoto. 

"5.  The  principal  of  the  permanent  funds  of  the  Company  is  not  to  be  used  under 
any  circumstances. 
"  6.  The  above  five  articles  are  unchangeable.  . 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  THE  DOSHISHA        243 

Doshisha  was  a  Japanese  or  a  foreign  institution;  that  a 
school  must  be  adapted  to  changing  conditions;  that  though 
the  Christian  sign  was  taken  down  the  Christian  spirit  re- 
mained, and  that  under  the  old  constitution  the  school  would 
have  been  reduced  to  a  negligible  quantity.  Voluntary 
Sunday  services  and  Bible  classes  remained  for  those  who 
wished  to  attend  and  the  real  Christian  character  of  the 
school  was  not  changed. 

This  news,  which  shocked  Christian  friends  on  both  sides 
of  the  Pacific  and  which  aroused  earnest  protests  from  even 
the  secular  press  and  public  in  Japan,  came  to  Dr.  Davis  as 
a  distinct  relief.  For  some  time  he  had  considered  this 
action  of  the  Board  inevitable  and  a  logical  climax  to  the 
course  of  events,  and  so  was  in  a  measure  prepared  for  it. 
A  heavy  burden  was  lifted  from  his  heart,  now  that  the 
mists  which  for  years  had  been  obscuring  the  whole  Dosh- 
isha situation  had  blown  away  and  a  clean-cut  issue  stood 
revealed.  The  way  was  open  so  that  a  clear  statement  of 
facts  about  the  Doshisha  could  get  a  hearing.  Since  he  had 
been  so  largely  responsible  for  starting  the  school,  and 
had  been  for  more  than  twenty  years  advising  the  Board 
and  American  friends  to  put  money  into  it  as  a  missionary 
investment,  he  felt  that  it  was  his  duty  to  throw  his  whole 
soul  into  the  effort  to  bring  the  Doshisha  back  to  its  orig- 
inal foundation.  "  I  resolved  to  risk  everything  by  open 
and  bold  action  in  a  struggle  to  save  the  school.  I  could 
do  no  less  if  I  knew  it  was  to  be  the  last  thing  I  ever  did." 

During  the  week  following  the  action  of  the  Doshisha 
Trustees,  he  wrote  an  article  of  twenty-five  hundred  words, 
entitled  "  The  recent  coup  de  grace  of  the  Doshisha,"  in 
which  he  gave  a  concise  statement  of  the  facts  attending 
the  founding  of  the  school,  together  with  a  summary  of  its 
history  and  development.  He  pointed  out  that  the  thou- 
sands of  dollars  given  by  friends  in  America  were  contrib- 
uted solely  on  the  basis  of  the  Christian  foundation  of  the 


244  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

Doshisha,  which  had  now  been  removed  through  the  action 
of  the  Trustees.  In  closing  he  said,  "  If  a  Board  of  Trus- 
tees, all  of  whom  are  professing  Christians  and  many  of 
whom  are  men  in  high  positions,  can  deliberately  sweep 
away  a  sacred  trust  which  was  declared  in  the  Constitution 
to  be  unalterable,  what  foundations  of  honor  and  trust  are 
there  among  the  Japanese  people?  This  will  be  the  swift, 
inevitable  question  of  all  enlightened  nations.  It  is  a  fatal 
stab  at  the  Doshisha  and  at  the  fair  reputation  of  my 
adopted  country." 

He  took  the  article  for  verification  of  facts  to  Dr. 
Learned,  and,  then,  without  seeking  the  advice  of  anyone 
as  to  the  wisdom  of  the  course  he  was  about  to  take,  sent 
it  to  the  "Japan  Mail"  for  publication,  at  the  same  time 
ordering  a  thousand  copies  printed  as  an  open  letter.  These 
he  sent  to  all  the  members  of  his  mission,  to  a  majority  of 
the  missionaries  in  Japan,  to  nearly  all  the  pastors  of  the 
Kumi-ai  body  and  to  many  representatives  of  other 
churches.  A  few  days  later  he  published  the  same  article 
in  the  "  Kirisutokyo  Shimbun,"  the  weekly  paper  of  the 
Kumi-ai  churches,  one  thousand  special  copies  of  which 
were  circulated  among  the  Japanese.  March  20th,  he  wrote 
a  second  article  for  the  "  Japan  Mail,"  giving  additional 
facts  and  information  regarding  the  history  of  the  Dosh- 
isha case.  This  was  sent  in  large  numbers  to  pastors  and 
others  in  the  United  States  and  in  Japan,  including  many 
prominent  government  officials  and  laymen  interested  in 
the  Doshisha. 

Dr.  Davis  attended  the  annual  conference  of  the  Kumi-ai 
churches  in  Tokyo  on  April  7th,  and  was  given  a  warm 
greeting  by  a  large  majority  of  the  delegates.  Two  days 
later,  at  the  Twentieth  Anniversary  of  the  Japanese  Home 
Missionary  Society,  he  was  asked  to  close  the  final  session 
with  the  Benediction.  No  other  foreigner  had  been  given  a 
part  in  these  exercises,  and  it  was  evident  that  the  stand 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  THE  DOSHISHA        245 

he  was  taking  was  supported  by  a  majority  of  his  Japanese 
brethren.  The  conference  sessions  were  full  of  suppressed 
feeling,  and  resolutions  were  passed  by  a  large  majority 
severely  condemning  the  action  of  the  Trustees  in  changing 
the  Constitution  of  the  Doshisha  and  admonishing  them  to 
restore  it.  Dr.  Davis  wrote  to  Boston:  —  "The  tide  of 
public  protest  is  rising  higher  and  higher.  Local  con- 
ferences of  our  churches  and  the  former  graduates  and 
students  of  the  Doshisha  are  protesting.  Mass  meetings  of 
Christians  in  Tokyo  and  Kyoto,  without  regard  to  denomi- 
nation, unite  in  protesting.  The  leading  Christian  mer- 
chants of  Tokyo  have  sent  their  protest.  The  "  Kirisu- 
tokyo  Shimbun  "  has  been  filled  with  opposition  to  this 
action  for  four  weeks  in  succession.  The  secular  press, 
also,  is  entering  most  vigorous  protest.  One  leading  paper 
says  the  Trustees  have  completely  betrayed  their  trust. 
Another  says  they  have  ruined  the  school.  Others  call  on 
them  to  return  the  money  to  the  donors.  .  .  .  There  is  a 
tremendous  storm  brewing  among  the  alumni.  They  are  all 
writing  to  me  for  facts  and  ammunition.  Letters  of  thanks 
are  coming  from  every  direction.  I  am  urging  them  to 
secure  reorganization  of  the  Board  of  Trustees,  selecting 
earnest  Christian  men,  elected  for  a  limited  term  of  years 
by  a  responsible  body,  say,  one  half  by  the  Kumi-ai  body 
and  one  half  by  the  Evangelical  Alliance  of  Japan.  We  may 
not  succeed  at  once  in  this,  but  God  can  and  will  use  this 
to  his  glory  here.  This  mighty  movement  among  the 
churches  will  do  much  to  bring  them  back  to  a  definite  de- 
clared evangelical  faith,  and  so  we  thank  God  and  take 
courage  for  the  cloud,  though  very  dark,  has  a  silver  lining 
and  will  eventually  pass  away." 

On  April  28th  he  sent  to  Boston  his  convictions  regard- 
ing the  necessity  of  an  appeal  to  the  courts  for  a  settle- 
ment of  the  Doshisha  problem.  "It  seems  to  me  that 
either  the  Board,  or  some  one  acting  for  Mr.  Harris,  ought 


246  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

to  put  this  into  the  Japanese  courts,  at  once.  Two  of  the 
best  lawyers  in  this  part  of  Japan  are  ready  to  push  it.  It 
seems  to  us  here  that  we  owe  it  to  you,  to  Mr.  Harris  and 
to  the  general  interests  involved,  to  take  this  course.  I 
feel  that  we  ought  to  do  this,  even  if  we  knew  we  would 
lose,  because  then  the  public  would  see  that  we  had  done 
all  that  we  could  to  secure  justice,  but  I  do  not  believe 
that  the  case  would  be  lost  in  a  Japanese  court.  .  .  .  The 
other  missions  feel  that  this  is  a  case  which  vitally  affects 
their  work  and  the  whole  cause  of  Christ.  We  are  experiencing 
rather  severe  criticism  from  some  of  them,  but  when  all  the 
facts  are  known  they  will  modify  or  suspend  their  judgments." 

General  N.  W.  Mclvor,  an  American  lawyer  of  excep- 
tional ability,  was  recommended  to  the  American  Board  to 
handle  the  Doshisha  case.  Mr.  Mclvor  had  served  as 
Consul-General  for  four  years  in  Yokohama,  and  was  being 
considered  by  the  United  States  as  a  commissioner  to  re- 
organize the  new  Hawaiian  government,  a  consideration 
calculated  to  largely  enhance  his  influence  in  the  prosecution 
of  a  legal  case  in  the  Japanese  courts. 

At  a  regular  meeting  of  the  Doshisha  Alumni  Association, 
the  President  of  the  school  made  a  statement  of  the  de- 
mands of  the  American  Board.  He  said  that  they  would 
not  restore  the  Constitution,  that  they  were  making  a  new 
one  in  accordance  with  the  new  Code  of  Civil  Law,  which 
when  filed  would  be  unchangeable.  He  intimated  that  the 
Trustees  would  not  resign  or  return  the  money.  When 
resolutions  approving  the  course  of  the  Trustees  were  pro- 
posed fifteen  members  left  the  hall,  including  the  chairman. 
The  remainder  then  passed  resolutions  to  the  effect  that 
the  recent  change  in  the  Doshisha  was  inevitable  in  order 
to  meet  the  changed  spirit  of  the  age  in  Japan;  that  while 
the  decision  was  good,  the  procedure  was  reprehensible,  be- 
cause the  Trustees  did  not  consult  the  alumni,  and  that 
the  spirit  of  the  Doshisha  was  unchanged  and  remained  as 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  THE  DOSHISHA        247 

Christian  as  ever.  "  Several  Japanese  tell  me  that  their 
evident  policy  is  to  delay  definite  answer  to  the  Board  as 
long  as  possible,  get  the  new  Constitution  on  record  and 
hope  for  a  gradual  change  in  public  sentiment.  You  will 
find  it  very  tedious  dealing  with  this  case  from  America 
and  should  send  Mr.  Mclvor  as  soon  as  possible  to  handle 
matters  at  first  hand." 

In  July,  Dr.  Barton  wrote  to  Dr.  Davis:  —  "  I  am  glad 
you  wrote  that  article  for  the  '  Japan  Mail.'  I  have  sent 
a  copy  to  the  '  Independent,'  and  have  used  the  slips  here 
very  satisfactorily.  It  is  not  time  to  keep  silent.  I  think 
you  have  reached  a  place  in  mission  work  where  you  need 
to  hold  out  and  hold  on,  but  where  the  necessity  for  hold- 
ing in,  is  considerably  passed.  We  all  profoundly  appreci- 
ate the  noble  work  you  are  doing,  and  I  am  sure  that  if 
the  work  of  the  last  few  months  was  the  only  work  which 
you  have  ever  done  in  Japan,  it  would  be  a  full  justifica- 
tion for  your  life  service.  I  hear  from  every  side  only 
strong  expressions  of  commendation.  I,  at  once,  put 
copies  of  your  documents  of  May  28th  and  29th  into  Gen- 
eral Mclvor's  hands.  It  will  interest  you  to  know  that  our 
committee  is  a  unit  in  the  matter  of  reconstruction.  We 
have  no  thought  of  compromise  or  of  giving  up  now.  Do 
care  for  yourself  and  not  overwork,  for  we  need  you  now 
and  we  shall  need  you  when  the  reorganization  comes.  It 
will  require  steady  hands  and  level  heads  for  sometime  yet. 
May  the  Lord  give  you  strength  and  a  vocabulary  to  express 
everything  needful  in  these  times  of  trial." 

At  the  Annual  Meeting  of  the  American  Board  Mission, 
Drs.  Albrecht,  Davis  and  Gordon  were  appointed  a  Com- 
mittee on  the  Doshisha  Question.  They  were  empowered 
to  present  to  the  Trustees  the  grounds  of  mission  dissatis- 
faction with  the  administration  of  the  institution,  and  with 
the  Japanese  plan  of  cooperation,  to  make  a  positive  state- 
ment of  the  conditions  on  which  future  cooperation  was 


248  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

possible,  and  to  take  such  other  steps  in  the  matter  as 
should  seem  wise.  The  American  Board  gave  General 
Mclvor  and  Drs.  Davis  and  Learned  the  power  of  attorney 
in  the  Doshisha  case,  with  instructions  to  appeal  to  the 
courts,  if  necessary.  The  authority  to  act  was  given  to 
any  two  of  the  three  men. 

After  being  met  by  Dr.  Davis  in  Yokohama  on  the  20th 
of  September,  General  Mclvor  proceeded  to  an  interview 
in  Tokyo  with  Premier  Count  Okuma,  who  promised  to  use 
his  influence  to  secure  a  fair  adjustment  of  the  American 
Board's  claims.  This  was  followed  by  a  conference  with 
members  of  the  Board  of  Trustees,  in  which  Drs.  Gordon, 
Learned,  Davis  and  General  Mclvor  took  part.  After  a 
clear  presentation  of  the  case  of  the  American  Board  by 
General  Mclvor,  Dr.  Learned  made  a  strong  statement, 
emphasizing  the  fact  that  it  would  now  take  a  much 
stronger  Constitution  than  the  old  one  to  restore  confi- 
dence in  the  school.  They  were  told  that  if  the  representa- 
tives of  the  mission  insisted  upon  taking  legal  measures  in 
the  Doshisha  case,  their  influence  and  reputation  as  mis- 
sionaries in  Japan  would  be  gone.  Dr.  Davis  replied: 
"  This  case  is  broader  and  more  important  than  the  reputa- 
tion of  any  one,  or  any  number  of  missionaries,  and  even  if 
we  knew  that  it  would  result  in  our  having  to  leave  Japan, 
we  would  have  to  make  an  effort  to  have  the  wrong 
righted."  This  was  the  first  of  a  long  series  of  conferences 
in  which  little  headway  was  made,  since  the  Trustees  tried 
to  justify  their  action  and  the  missionaries,  with  their  legal 
adviser,  urged  the  demands  of  the  American  Board.  At 
length,  on  the  7th  of  November,  the  final  answer  of  the 
Trustees  was  given,  in  which  they  declined  to  restore  the 
original  constitution  of  the  Doshisha  and  stated  that  a  new 
constitution  had  been  completed.1 

1  From  the  vantage  point  of  sixteen  years,  we  may.  while  not  exonerating  the  per- 
version of  funds  held  in  trust  for  Christian  education,  at  least,  find  more  explicable 
the  position  of  the  Doshisha  Trustees.  Here  were  two  groups  of  Christian  men,  each 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  THE  DOSHISHA        249 

There  now  seemed  no  other  course  than  to  institute  legal 
proceedings.  Dr.  Learned  felt  strongly  that,  as  a  matter  of 
conscience,  he  could  take  no  part  in  forcing  a  legal  issue 
with  the  Japanese,  and  returned  to  his  duties  as  Treasurer 
of  the  Mission  and  teacher  in  the  Theological  School  in 
Kyoto.  Dr.  Gordon,  however,  consented  to  remain  to 
help  in  the  preparation  of  the  case  and  to  give  valuable 
counsel  and  moral  support. 

October  2nd,  Dr.  Davis  wrote  to  Boston:  —  "We  are  to 
meet  the  Trustees,  on  the  Fourth,  to  examine  the  draft  of 
this  new  constitution.  I  am  not  very  hopeful.  With  God 
all  things  are  possible.  My  hope  is  in  Him."  "  October  8th, 
There  has  been  no  change  in  the  general  situation  since 
the  Trustees  declined  to  include  a  clear  statement  in  the 
Constitution  that  Christianity  is  the  basis  of  moral  educa- 
tion in  all  departments  of  the  Doshisha.  We  stand  there, 
and  having  done  all,  expect  to  stand  there,  even  if  it  results 
in  going  into  the  courts.  Count  Okuma  had  a  long,  un- 
official interview  with  U.  S.  Minister  Buck  and  asked  him 
to  see  Gen'l  Mclvor  and  try  to  avert  a  lawsuit." 

Minister  Buck  held  a  conference  with  General  Mclvor 
(on  the  tenth),  in  which  he  stated  that  he  was  in  thorough 
agreement  with  the  position  of  the  American  Board  and 
urged  him  on  no  account  to  yield.  He  assured  him  that  he 
would  do  anything  in  his  power  to  further  a  right  settle- 
ment of  the  question  and  asked  for  a  careful  statement  of 
the  case,  which  he  could  present  to  Count  Okuma  in  per- 
son. Dr.  Davis  spent  several  days  in  gathering  the  mate- 
actuated  by  high  motives  of  honor,  attempting  to  conduct  the  Doshisha  according 
to  their  convictions  of  the  right.  Representing  two  irreconcilable  interpretations  of 
what  constitutes  a  Christian  school,  a  conflict  was  inevitable.  All  honor  to  the  party 
which  having  upheld  its  position  to  the  last,  yielded  in  such  a  way  as  to  enable  the 
school  to  continue  with  the  least  possible  embarrassment,  under  the  regime  of  the  men 
to  whom  they  surrendered.  When  we  recall  that  the  founders  of  the  Doshisha  had 
opened  the  school  under  compulsion  of  excluding  formal  Biblical  teaching,  and  as  we 
consider  that  other  mission  schools  have  removed  instruction  in  the  Bible  and  in 
religion  from  the  class  rooms  of  their  middle  schools  in  order  to  retain  Government 
recognition,  with  the  verdict  that  vital  Christian  influence  has  not  been  weakened  by 
this  course,  we  find  that  we  must  exercise  a  more  charitable  judgment  in  this  whole 
matter  than  was  possible  under  the  anxieties  and  deep  feeling  of  the  hour. 


250  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

rial  which  went  into  this  document.  Later  he  wrote:  "The 
whole  matter  is  in  a  most  interesting  stage.  The  United 
States  Minister  and  the  Prime  Minister  of  Japan  are  both 
actively  interested,  the  Trustees  are  very  uneasy  and  we 
hold  an  impregnable  position,  standing  for  a  vital  principle. 
The  time  in  which  the  new  constitution  must  be  filed  with 
the  government  expires  in  two  days,  and  Col.  Buck  has 
promised  to  officially  receive  and  forward  to  the  Japanese 
Government  our  protest  against  the  acceptance  of  any  con- 
stitution which  we  have  not  approved.  This  would  put 
the  matter  into  the  Executive  Department  and  make  it  a 
diplomatic  question." 

It  was  fortunate  that  the  Doshisha  question  did  not 
assume  narrow,  national  lines.  It  was  in  no  sense  a  case 
of  America  against  Japan.  The  best-minded  among  the 
Japanese,  of  every  profession  and  faith,  made  protest  against 
an  act  whose  consequences  could  only  result  in  stig- 
matizing the  country.  Leaders  in  the  Kumi-ai  Church, 
pastors  and  prominent  graduates  of  the  Doshisha  wrote  to 
Dr.  Davis  to  stand  firm  on  the  high  ground  which  he  and 
General  Mclvor  had  taken.  The  large  majority  of  his  own 
mission  stood  solidly  behind  him.  He  had  the  satisfaction 
of  Dr.  Gordon's  daily  counsel  and  cooperation,  which  was 
a  tower  of  strength  to  him  during  the  autumn.  Moreover, 
though  experts  differed  on  the  question,  the  case  of  the 
American  Board  appealed  to  the  judgment  of  some  of  the 
greatest  lawyers  in  Japan  as  certain  of  victory,  if  put  into 
the  courts. 

On  November  fourth,  in  a  long  interview  with  two  lead- 
ing trustees,  Dr.  Davis  was  charged  with' inconceivable  dis- 
courtesy and  lack  of  consideration  for  the  Department  of 
Education  and  the  Minister  of  Education  of  the  empire. 
They  said  that  such  rudeness  in  a  man  who  had  lived  so 
long  in  Japan  and  who  knew  the  Japanese  so  well  was 
inexplicable.  Dr.  Davis  replied  that  since  he  must  either 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  THE  DOSHISHA        251 

be  impolite  to  the  God  who  had  founded  the  Doshisha  and 
the  Christ  in  whose  faith  the  school  had  for  more  than 
twenty  years  been  administered,  and  in  which  the  Constitu- 
tion of  the  school  had  been  built,  or  to  the  Department  of 
Education,  he  would  have  to  choose  the  latter.  When  he 
expressed  the  belief  that  Doshisha  would  gain  the  govern- 
ment privileges  without  the  sacrifice  of  principle,  in  five 
years,  the  Trustees  replied  that  they  would  not  be  granted 
in  thirty. 

A  little  later  in  a  conference  with  members  of  the  Board 
of  Trustees  and  their  supporters,  aiming  at  reconciliation, 
matters  had  reached  an  impasse,  when  one  of  the  group 
declared  that  he  could  bear  it  no  longer  and  rushed  from 
the  room.  Dr.  Gordon  sprang  after  him,  overtook  him 
before  he  could  leave  the  house,  and  leading  him  gently  by 
the  arm  back  into  the  midst  of  the  group,  said:  "  We  must 
pray  together  before  you  go  away."  They  all  knelt  down 
and  prayed  with  a  spirit  that  completely  melted  the  little 
company.  Then  followed  another  hour  of  quieter  confer- 
ence, in  which  they  were  drawn  more  closely  together. 

This  incident  is  typical  of  the  spirit  brought  by  Dr. 
Gordon  into  the  work  of  those  days.  While  Dr.  Davis 
hammered  away  in  frontal  attacks,  his  colleague  kept  the 
spirit  of  brotherhood  in  Christ  to  the  fore,  and  thus  ren- 
dered a  service  of  incalculable  value.  The  two  men,  for  fif- 
teen years  close  and  sympathetic  friends,  made  a  very 
strong  team.  They  supplemented  each  other  to  an  unusual 
degree.  There  was  no  one  in  Japan  who  influenced  Dr. 
Davis  more,  whose  judgment  he  more  valued,  or  whose 
tactful  friendship  and  loving  devotion  moulded  and  sof- 
tened him,  as  the  man  who  now  stood  shoulder  to  shoulder 
with  him  through  these  months  of  struggle. 

No  one  had  suffered  more  keenly  from  the  defection  of 
the  Doshisha  than  Dr.  Gordon.  None  had  watched  its 
separation  from  vital  Christianity,  the  fall  from  its  noble 


252  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

estate,  with  a  sadder  heart  than  he.  He  had  borne  his 
share  of  criticism  and  disappointment,  and  with  failing 
strength  had  carried  an  increasing  amount  of  responsibility 
in  the  school  and  in  evangelistic  work.  The  Doshisha 
crisis  found  him  in  frail  health  and  the  long  weeks  of  in- 
tense conference  and  anxiety  over  the  ultimate  outcome 
bore  heavily  upon  him.  He  returned  to  Kyoto  on  the 
28th  of  October,  greatly  wearied,  and  never  fully  rallied 
from  this  weariness,  going  to  America  the  following  spring 
and  on  into  the  presence  of  the  Master  whom  he  had 
served  so  loyally,  not  long  after.  With  him  passed  a 
rare  combination  of  qualities  that  has  never  been  fully 
replaced  in  the  American  Board  Mission  in  Japan.  A 
gentleness,  bulwarked  with  strength,  a  devoutness  and 
spiritual  power,  a  capacity  for  friendship  and  wise  counsel, 
a  ripened  scholarship  and  evangelistic  power,  a  spirit  of 
love  and  genial  fellowship,  that  has  left  its  permanent 
impress  upon  the  Kumi-ai  Church  and  the  large  group  of 
workers,  both  Japanese  and  American,  who  were  privileged 
to  be  his  associates. 

In  justice  to  the  Trustees  of  the  Doshisha,  it  must  be 
admitted  that  they  supported  their  position  with  an  able 
and  interesting  line  of  argument.  This  was  published  by 
their  chairman  in  the  "Japan  Mail"  of  March  llth,  1899. 
They  held  that  Christianity  was  the  basis  of  the  moral 
education  of  the  Doshisha,  but  understood  this  phrase  to 
mean  that  Christianity  was  an  essential  element  of  moral 
education.  They  did  not  consider  Doshisha  a  school  for 
the  propagation  of  Christianity,  but  interpreted  Mr.  Nee- 
sima's  conception  of  a  liberal  educational  institution  in  a 
broad  way,  without  reference  to  religious  creeds  or  exercises. 
They  did  not  consider  that  the  exclusion  of  the  Bible  con- 
flicted with  this  broad  interpretation  of  the  purposes  of  the 
school.  Without  government  privileges  the  Middle  School1 

1  Academy. 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  THE  DOSHISHA         253 

was  doomed;  without  a  successful  Middle  School  the  great 
purpose  of  Mr.  Neesima's  life,  a  Christian  university,  could 
not  be  realized.  To  the  Trustees  the  end  justified  the 
means.  They  believed  that  while  religion  and  education 
went  hand  in  hand,  there  was  a  clear  delineation  between 
the  spheres  of  religion  and  education  in  the  institution  and 
that  the  growth  of  a  free  religious  spirit  would  be  improved 
by  keeping  religious  teaching  and  ceremonial  out  of  the 
class  room.  Finally,  they  understood  that  no  part  of  the 
gifts  to  Doshisha,  except  the  Harris  Fund  of  $100,000,  had 
been  made  conditional  on  Biblical  teaching,  nor  that  the 
Doshisha  had  made  any  promise  to  the  donors,  with  the 
exception  of  the  Harris  Fund,  which  rendered  their  action 
a  breach  of  trust.  By  cancelling  Article  VI  of  the  Consti- 
tution they  had  no  intention  of  changing  the  principles 
of  the  institution,  but  wished  to  clear  the  way  for  a  new 
constitution  based  upon  the  new  Civil  Code  of  the  empire. 
Thus,  by  creating  Doshisha  a  Juridical  Person  and  giving 
it  a  recognized  status  in  the  system  of  government  edu- 
cation they  would  confer  a  great  and  lasting  benefit  upon 
the  institution  and  put  in  it  a  way  of  realizing  the  plans 
of  its  founder. 

The  American  Board's  representatives  replied  that  the 
Doshisha  was  not  a  Joint  Stock  Company  but  was  virtually 
a  Trust  Company;  that  every  dollar  given  to  the  institu- 
tion was  given  in  trust  for  the  maintenance  of  Christian 
schools,  in  proof  of  which  they  held  the  original  document 
of  the  organization  of  the  company;  that  they  could  not, 
on  behalf  of  the  donors,  recognize  a  school  as  Christian  out 
of  which  the  Bible  and  all  Christian  exercises  had  been 
excluded;  moreover,  that  the  Harris  Fund,  which  the 
Trustees  admitted  had  been  given  conditionally,  was  being 
used  for  the  upkeep  of  the  Middle  School;  that  not  only 
this  large  gift,  but  all  subsequent  foreign  gifts,  were  given 
on  the  assumption  that  the  statement  in  Article  VI,  making 


254  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

the  Constitution  forever  unchangeable,  would  be  honored 
by  the  Trustees,  and  now  that  the  Trustees  had  abolished 
the  old  constitution  they  demanded  its  restitution  and 
stated  that  the  American  Board  would  be  satisfied  with 
nothing  less. 

After  many  weeks  of  conference,  proposals  and  counter- 
proposals, little  headway  had  been  made.  The  Trustees 
would  not  yield  the  main  point  in  question,  but  kept  urging 
arbitration  and  compromise.  They  were  willing  to  give 
up  certain  points  in  their  position,  provided  the  American 
Board  would  do  the  same.  They  finally  proposed  that 
Christianity  be  excluded  from  the  Middle  School  only, 
and  be  reinstated  in  all  other  departments.  General 
Mclvor's  reply  was  that  they  were  willing  to  arbitrate 
everything  but  the  fundamental  proposition  that  Christian- 
ity was  to  be  the  foundation  of  the  moral  teaching  of  all 
the  schools.  To  this,  on  the  tenth,  the  Trustees  replied 
with  a  determined  negative. 

There  was  now  no  other  way  but  to  institute  legal  pro- 
ceedings. General  Mclvor  and  Dr.  Davis  decided  to  secure 
Mr.  Masujima,  a  corporation  lawyer  of  the  greatest  ability. 
After  a  conference  of  the  three  men,  on  November  29th, 
Dr.  Davis  was  asked  to  prepare  a  chronological  statement 
of  the  history  and  facts  of  the  whole  Doshisha  case,  to  be 
used  as  the  basis  of  Mr.  Masujima's  brief.  During  the 
first  half  of  December  he  was  busy  preparing  this  docu- 
ment. "  We  have  gained  an  advantage  by  allowing  every- 
thing possible  to  be  done,  during  two  months,  to  effect  a 
peaceful  settlement,  so  we  have  Count  Okuma's  goodwill 
and  that  of  others,  as  we  begin  this  step.  I  believe  God 
has  been  controlling  events  better  than  we  have  dared  to 
hope.  Mr.  Masujima  has  studied  over  the  prepared  state- 
ment, and  thinks  we  have  a  very  strong  case." 

About  this  time,  Dr.  James  L.  Barton  wrote  to  him: 
"  You  have  taken  high  ground  on  this  Doshisha  question 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  THE  DOSHISHA         255 

and  have  maintained  it  with  great  force.  I  believe  that 
the  position  taken  by  the  Kumi-ai  Conference  and  by  the 
Christians,  generally,  in  Japan,  is  due,  in  no  small  measure, 
to  your  own  statements  of  the  situation,  which  have  helped 
them  to  see  the  matter  in  its  true  light.  You  have  taken 
a  position  that  needs  to  be  held.  Remember  that  back  of 
you  are  not  only  the  Prudential  Committee  but  the  entire 
American  Board  and  the  Christian  sentiment  of  the  world." 

It  was  fortunate  for  the  American  Board  that  Minister 
Buck  took  such  a  lively  interest  in  the  Doshisha  case.  His 
repeated  interviews  with  Count  Okuma  and  Marquis  I  to 
deepened  the  conviction  of  these  statesmen  of  the  justice 
of  the  American  Board's  claims.  An  additional  considera- 
tion was  the  fact  that  the  long-looked-for  treaties,  placing 
Japan  on  an  equal  footing  with  western  nations  in  matters 
of  legal  jurisdiction  and  customs  revenue,  were  at  that 
time  on  the  point  of  becoming  effective.  This  fact  impressed 
them  with  the  seriousness  of  the  situation  from  the  inter- 
national standpoint.  Such  a  question  as  this  must  be  kept 
out  of  the  courts. 

The  filing  of  the  new  Doshisha  Constitution  with  the 
Department  of  Education  was  the  occasion  for  Minister 
Buck  to  assist  in  an  official  capacity,  and  he  at  once  sent  a 
protest  to  the  Department  against  the  acceptance  of  -the 
changed  constitution.  This  protest  and  the  prospect  of 
legal  proceedings  by  the  American  Board  stirred  the  De- 
partment to  action.  Here  was  a  case  coming  before  the 
attention  of  western  countries  which  would  expose  the  in- 
consistencies of  its  restrictions  upon  religion  and  upon  the 
religious  freedom  guaranteed  by  the  Japanese  Constitution. 
The  Minister  of  Education  sent  for  Minister  Buck  and  the 
President  of  the  Doshisha  Trustees,  and,  after  a  long  con- 
ference, requested  the  latter  for  a  statement  of  the  contro- 
verted points  and  of  the  American  Board's  claims. 

He    next    had    an    interview  with    General   Mclvor    and 


256  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

Mr.  Masujima,  and  told  them  that  the  matter  had  been 
discussed  by  the  counsellors  into  the  small  hours  of  the 
previous  night,  and  that  they  were  to  meet  again  that  day 
to  decide  the  general  question  of  their  policy  toward  Chris- 
tian schools,  which  could  not  be  put  off  longer.  He  added 
that  treaty  revision  was  soon  to  come  into  effect  and  that 
the  reference  of  this  matter  to  them  by  the  United  States 
Minister  and  the  pending  lawsuit  made  some  change  im- 
perative, either  the  giving  of  religious  freedom  to  Christian 
schools,  with  the  privileges,  or  the  taking  away  of  the 
privileges  they  had  given  to  the  Doshisha,  for,  he  said, 
"  We  now  understand  that  these  schools  of  the  Doshisha 
to  which  we  have  given  the  privileges  were  founded  and 
are  being  supported  by  Christian  money,  which  was  given 
on  the  basis  of  their  Christian  character,  and  hence  it  can 
not  go  on  as  it  is." 

On  November  19th,  Dr.  Davis  wrote  to  Secretary  Barton, 
advising  him  to  seek  an  interview  with  Secretary  Hay  of 
the  Department  of  State  regarding  the  Doshisha  case.  He 
had  no  thought  of  the  United  States  government  inter- 
fering in  the  matter,  but  feared  lest  the  Trustees  might 
prejudice  the  State  Department  through  the  Japanese 
Minister  in  Washington.  To  safeguard  against  possible 
developments,  Dr.  Barton  followed  the  advice  from  Japan 
and  effected  an  interview  with  Secretary  Hay,  but  not 
before  the  private  settlement  of  the  dispute  had  been 
secured  in  Japan. 

Count  Okuma  took  high  ground  in  support  of  the  Amer- 
ican Board's  claims.  On  the  19th  of  November,  he  told 
General  Mclvor  that  there  were  but  two  alternatives  open 
to  the  Trustees :  —  to  subscribe  the  money  to  buy  the 
American  Board's  investment  in  the  Doshisha,  or  to  go 
back  to  the  Constitution,  lose  the  government  privileges, 
and  take  the  chance  of  gaining  them  later.  He  stated  that 
his  interest  in  the  Doshisha  case  was  threefold:  First,  his 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  THE  DOSHISHA        257 

interest  in  Mr.  Neesima's  memory;  second,  his  interest  in 
preserving  the  friendship  of  the  American  nation,  and, 
third,  his  desire  to  see  what  he  considered  a  wrong  act 
righted.  He  said,  moreover,  that  if  the  representatives 
of  the  American  Board  went  to  law,  they  went  with  his 
good  will,  but  that  he  believed  it  would  be  unnecessary. 

One  of  the  cross-currents  of  public  opinion  that  had  to 
be  met  was  the  belief  of  not  a  few  friends  of  the  Doshisha, 
who  really  sympathized  with  the  effort  to  restore  the  Con- 
stitution, that  if  the  American  Board  were  successful  in  the 
contest  with  the  Trustees,  the  missionaries  would  control 
the  future  Doshisha  and  that  it  would  lose  its  broad  educa- 
tional ideals  and  become  a  mission  school.  It  was  not 
an  easy  matter  to  convince  the  Japanese  public  that  the 
American  Board  could  go  to  such  lengths  as  to  retain  two 
lawyers  and  depute  two  of  its  leaders  to  contend  for  only 
a  principle.  There  were  many  doubts  and  speculations 
regarding  the  motives  of  the  principal  actors  in  such  a 
novel  contest.  It  was  at  this  point  that  Dr.  Davis  was 
able  to  render  a  valuable  service.  His  acquaintance  among 
alumni  and  friends  of  the  Doshisha  was  very  wide,  and  he 
had  been  known,  from  the  beginning,  to  be  pledged  to  its 
highest  interests.  He  sought  out  prominent  Doshisha 
men  in  the  capital,  discussed  the  main  issue  in  the  case,  clari- 
fied their  doubts  as  to  the  ultimate  outcome  for  the  Dosh- 
isha and  gained  their  support  of  the  American  Board's 
action.  He  assured  these  men  that  the  restoration  of  the 
school  to  its  original  status  was  the  sole  motive  of  the 
Board,  that  it  was  a  secondary  matter  whether  the  school 
ever  returned  to  cooperation  with  the  mission,  that  it  was 
doubtful  whether  the  Board  or  American  friends  would 
cooperate  with  the  Doshisha  again,  but  that  they  longed 
to  have  its  fair  name  and  the  right  of  donors  restored  in- 
violate and  protected  for  the  future. 

The   latter   part   of   December,    Dr.    Davis   returned    to 


258  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

Kyoto  to  spend  Christmas  with  his  family  and  to  look 
up  certain  old  Doshisha  documents.  He  wrote  the  day 
before  Christmas  to  Dr.  Barton:  —  "The  promised  deci- 
sion of  the  Department  of  Education  has  not  come  and  it 
begins  to  look  as  if  they  are  merely  temporizing.  We 
await  the  result  in  hope,  but  unless  God  is  with  us,  the 
matter  will  not  be  satisfactorily  settled,  although  the 
Trustees  resign."  It  was  a  trying  situation  in  which  to  be 
patient.  He  urged  his  legal  advisers  to  notify  the  Depart- 
ment that  they  would  wait  no  longer  in  sending  notice  of 
litigation  to  the  Trustees,  but  Mr.  Mclvor  advised  a  little 
longer  delay,  hoping  that  the  deadlock  would  collapse  of 
itself. 

December  29th,  a  letter  reached  Dr.  Davis  from  General 
Mclvor  stating  that  the  Trustees  had  sent  in  their  resigna- 
tions to  the  Department  of  Education.  The  mass  of  evi- 
dence which  had  been  arrayed  against  them,  the  general 
note  of  dissatisfaction  that  was  growing  in  volume  among 
the  public,  as  well  as  in  the  ranks  of  their  alumni,  together 
with  the  pressure  brought  to  bear  from  the  highest  official 
circles  of  the  empire,  had  at  last  forced  them  to  realize 
that  there  was  no  alternative  but  resignation.  The  tension 
of  many  months  was  over  and  the  way  was  at  last  open  for 
a  restored  Doshisha. 


CHAPTER  XVII 
"  RECONSTRUCTION  " 

THE  resignation  of  the  Trustees  of  the  Doshisha  in  no 
sense  implied  that  a  new  and  restored  school  was 
guaranteed  upon  the  basis  of  the  original  constitu- 
tion. Both  in  enrollment  and  in  reputation  the  Doshisha 
had  dropped  so  far  that  it  was  pointed  to  as  a  conspicu- 
ous case  of  a  Christian  school  that  had  run  on  the  rocks. 
The  impression  was  abroad  that  the  American  Board  had 
taken  its  strong  action  in  order  to  gain  entire  control  of 
the  institution  and  that  it  would  now  be  a  purely  mission 
school.  Under  these  conditions,  where  were  the  able  men 
who  could  be  induced  to  become  members  of  the  new 
Board  of  Trustees?  Who,  indeed,  would  be  bold  enough 
to  attempt  to  play  the  difficult  game  of  cooperation  with 
the  American  .Board  and  its  missionaries?  This  was  the 
new  problem  which  faced  the  American  Board's  represen- 
tatives, a  problem  as  much  more  difficult  than  the  legal 
issue  they  had  been  forcing  as  diplomacy  and  reconstruc- 
tion is  a  greater  task  than  war  and  destruction. 

Upon  receiving  word  of  the  resignation  of  the  Board  of 
Trustees,  Dr.  Barton  wrote  to  Dr.  Davis,  "  This  resignation 
only  clears  the  way  for  further  action.  You  have  a  most 
delicate  task  to  perform;  delicate  because  you  cannot  dic- 
tate terms,  while  you  must  secure  concessions  and  privi- 
leges in  the  new  organization  which  will  prevent  a  recur- 
rence of  this  deplorable  event.  You  have,  indeed,  a  tre- 
mendous task  before  you  to  get  the  Doshisha  into  shape 
again." 

Drs.  Davis  and  Gordon  spent  the  first  two  months  of 
1899  in  an  incessant  search  for  a  new  Board  of  Trustees 

259 


260  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

Those  weeks  of  careful  negotiation  and  conference,  of 
approach  to  man  after  man  upon  the  subject  of  trusteeship, 
of  meeting  opposition  to  some  excellent  candidates,  of  dis- 
appointment in  the  refusal  of  others,  were  among  the  most 
wearing  of  the  whole  winter,  but  were  made  joyful  by  the 
expectation  of  success.  The  difficulty  lay  not  in  finding 
able  men,  of  consecrated  Christian  character,  but  to  find 
men  who  were  willing  to  assume  the  responsibility  of  re- 
organization and  men  who  were  acceptable  to  not  only  the 
alumni  of  the  school,  but,  also,  to  the  large  benefactors 
who  had  created  its  endowment  funds.  Count  Okuma  and 
Baron  Shibusawa,  prominent  among  the  donors  to  the 
Doshisha,  were  sympathetic  and  broadminded  regarding 
the  problem  of  the  new  Board.  They  were  strong  in  their 
conviction  that  the  new  men  must  all  be  earnest  Christians, 
in  order  to  win  back  the  support  and  confidence  of  former 
friends  and  the  American  constituency.  The  question  of 
the  president  of  the  Board  was  a  central  one,  and  upon  it 
hung  the  winning  of  other  men  to  its  membership. 

Dr.  Davis  called  upon  Mr.  Saibara,  a  prominent  Member 
of  Parliament  from  Kochi.  He  promised  to  serve  on  the 
Board  if  Mr.  Kataoka  Kankichi,  a  fellow  member  from 
Kochi  and  for  many  years  the  President  of  the  Lower 
House  of  Parliament,  would  consent  to  take  the  presi- 
dency of  the  school.  To  secure  such  a  fearless  Christian 
statesman  as  head  of  the  Doshisha  would  be  a  first  guar- 
antee of  success.  It  would  attract  other  strong  men  to  the 
Board  and  would  win  popular  confidence  in  the  school. 
Dr.  Davis  endorsed  Dr.  Greene's  suggestion  of  electing  Mr. 
Kataoka,  President  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  and  Honorary 
President  of  the  School,  and  of  appointing  a  Vice-President 
who  would  be  the  acting  head  of  the  Doshisha.  He  wrote  a 
general  letter  reporting  the  progress  of  negotiations  for  Trustees 
to  his  colleagues  of  the  Kyoto  station,  and  asked  their  con- 
sent to  approach  Mr.  Kataoka.  He  feared,  most  of  all, 


"  RECONSTRUCTION  "  261 

the  possibility  of  a  triangular  deadlock  in  the  event  of 
three  conflicting  groups  of  candidates  being  chosen  by  the 
alumni,  by  the  donors  and  by  the  representatives  of  the 
American  Board,  and  for  this  reason  he  looked  to  the  com- 
ing interviews  with  Count  Okuma  and  Baron  Shibusawa 
as  of  the  utmost  significance.  "  Count  Okuma  finally 
fixed  last  Sabbath  morning  as  the  time  for  giving  his  de- 
cision about  the  candidates  we  had  named.  I  felt  some- 
what as  I  did  on  that  beautiful  Sabbath  day  at  Shiloh, 
thirty-six  years  ago,  that  this  was  not  exactly  Sabbath 
business,  but  as  I  was  not  responsible  for  bringing  on  the 
engagement  any  more  than  the  one  at  Shiloh,  I  decided 
that  it  was  the  Lord's  business  and  went  with  General 
Mclvor  and  Mr.  Masujima  to  the  Count's  residence."  His 
relief  was  great  when  the  Count  expressed  his  pleasure  at 
having  a  full  list  of  earnest  Christian  men  as  Trustees,  and 
later  ratified  the  nominees  of  the  American  Board  and 
named  one  of  his  own  choice.  The  first  man  to  consent 
to  act  upon  the  new  board  was  Mr.  Tomioka,  chaplain  of 
the  Sugamo  Prison  in  Tokyo.  On  January  16th  Dr. 
Davis  called  upon  Mr.  President  Kataoka,  of  the  Lower 
House  of  Parliament,  who  received  him  cordially  and  was 
delighted  to  learn  of  the  prospective  restoration  of  the 
Doshisha.  When  Dr.  Davis  proposed  his  accepting  the 
presidency  of  the  school,  Mr.  Kataoka  said  that  he  was  not 
fitted  for  the  position,  but  that  if  the  Board  of  Trustees 
presented  the  matter  to  him  he  would  carefully  consider  it. 
On  hearing  of  the  interview  with  Mr.  Kataoka,  Mr. 
Saibara  promised  Dr.  Davis  to  serve  as  a  trustee.  Mr. 
Kondo,  a  prominent  Christian  manufacturer  of  Tokyo,  after 
a  conference  which  lasted  three  hours,  also  consented  to 
become  a  member  of  the  Board. 

The  former  Trustees  had  shown  great  consideration  in 
resigning  in  such  a  way  as  to  make  the  transfer  of  the 
school  as  simple  a  matter  as  possible.  If  they  had  resigned 


262  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

in  a  body,  without  appointing  representatives  to  pass  over 
the  property  to  the  new  Board,  the  situation  would 
have  been  highly  complicated.  There  now  followed  a 
period  of  three  weeks  of  work  upon  a  new  constitution  and 
arrangements  for  the  nomination  of  members  representing 
the  alumni  and  the  donors.  General  Mclvor  prepared  a 
draft  of  the  Constitution  which  was  in  harmony  with  the 
original  principles  of  the  Doshisha  and  in  accord  with  the 
new  Civil  Code  and  which  also  safeguarded  the  future 
interests  of  the  American  Board. 

Dr.  Davis  utilized  this  lull  in  his  work  by  publishing  a 
small  book  on  the  Pentateuch.  He  also  became  interested 
in  the  work  of  Chaplain  Tomioka  in  the  Sugamo  Prison. 
The  prisoners  were  in  need  of  good  literature.  He  pub- 
lished a  sketch  of  Mr.  Tomioka's  life  and  work  for  prison 
reform,  mailed  it  to  two  hundred  foreign  business  men  in 
Yokohama  and,  with  General  Mclvor's  cooperation,  called 
upon  most  of  them  during  February,  soliciting  funds  for 
the  prisoners.  Six  hundred  yen  was  raised  in  this  way  for 
a  prison  library  at  Sugamo.  That  Dr.  Davis,  with  the 
strain  of  the  last  months  and  the  load  of  Doshisha  prob- 
lems upon  his  shoulders,  could,  in  this  interval,  throw  him- 
self so  heartily  into  an  entirely  different  work  and  carry  it 
through  successfully,  impressed  General  Mclvor  with  his 
versatility. 

The  new  Board  was  formally  appointed  February  llth, 
1899,  and  six  days  later  met  in  Tokyo,  rescinded  the  action 
of  their  predecessors  and  reinstated  the  exscinded  articles 
of  the  original  constitution  of  the  Doshisha.  "It  seems  a 
strange  coincidence,"  he  wrote,  "  that  just  one  year  after  the 
Constitution  was  broken,  we  are  met  here  in  the  same  city 
to  perfect  its  restoration,  and,  as  we  hope,  set  forces  in 
motion  which  will  restore  the  school.  General  Mclvor,  Mr. 
Kondo  and  I  have  had  two  hours  and  a  half  talk  and 
lunched  together  at  the  Tokyo  Club,  and  now  go  to  Kudan 


"  RECONSTRUCTION  "  263 

to  have  our  photo  taken  with  the  new  Board.  Then  we  go 
to  Dr.  Greene's  home  for  dinner  and  the  final  business 
session,  and  close  the  evening  with  a  praise  service.  There 
is  a  driving  rainstorm,  today,  cold  and  dismal  without, 
but  the  cheer  within  the  soul  is  so  great  that  we  do  not 
notice  the  weather." 

At  this  meeting  the  definition  of  the  Christianity  which 
should  be  the  basis  of  the  moral  instruction  in  the  Dosh- 
isha  was  debated.  The  discussion  centered  upon  the  use 
of  the  word  "  Evangelical,"  since  its  meaning  in  Japan  had 
become  ambiguous.  Finally,  Dr.  Davis  wrote  out  a  state- 
ment, which,  after  slight  modification,  was  adopted.  It 
read: — "It  is  understood  by  us  that  the  Christianity 
which  is  to  form  the  basis  of  the  moral  teaching  in  all  de- 
partments of  the  Doshisha,  under  the  unchangeable  prin- 
ciples of  its  Constitution,  is  that  body  of  living  and  funda- 
mental Christian  principles  believed  and  accepted  in  com- 
mon by  the  great  Christian  churches  of  the  world." 

Dr.  Barton  wrote: — "Allow  me  to  say  that  we  all 
feel  that  you  and  Mr.  Mclvor  have  managed  the  case  with 
wonderful  skill.  We  do  not  believe  that  you  have  done  this 
through  your  own  wisdom,  alone,  but  that  you  have  had 
divine  help.  If  you  are  able  to  bring  about  a  recognition 
of  religious  institutions  in  Japan,  it  will  be  a  great  thing 
accomplished.  That  time  will  have  to  come  and  undoubt- 
edly your  efforts  have  tended  to  hasten  it.  It  cannot  be 
but  that  out  of  this  will  grow  a  deeper  respect  for  Chris- 
tian morality  and  I  have  no  doubt  that  the  American 
Board  with  its  mission  in  Japan  will  stand  for  more  here- 
after than  it  ever  has  before." 

On  the  following  Monday,  March  6th,  Dr.  Davis  started 
for  home  upon  the  noon  train.  "  The  great  struggle  was 
ended;  God  had  given  us  the  victory.  The  Doshisha  was 
to  be  restored  and  saved.  The  first  few  miles,  I  was  the 
only  passenger  in  the  second-class  compartment.  My  feel- 


264  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

ings  completely  overcame  me  and  I  broke  down  and  wept 
for  very  joy,  like  a  child."  Except  for  two  very  brief 
trips  to  Kyoto,  he  had  been  away  from  home  and  family 
for  six  months.  During  this  time  he  had  declined  every 
social  or  speaking  engagement  that  could  detract  from  the 
successful  pursuit  of  the  one  object  of  his  enforced  stay  in 
the  North.  Aside  from  the  frequent  entertainment  that 
he  enjoyed  in  the  hospitable  home  of  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Greene 
in  Tokyo,  he  had  accepted  but  one  social  engagement 
during  this  half  year  of  work.  It  had  been  a  period  of 
exile,  but  the  satisfactory  outcome  was  its  own  reward. 

Following  his  return  to  Kyoto,  General  and  Mrs.  Mclvor 
visited  for  four  days  in  Dr.  Davis'  home.  An  interesting 
friendship  had  arisen  between  the  two  men.  Thrown  al- 
most constantly  into  each  other's  company  under  most 
trying  circumstances,  for  six  months,  they  grew  to  know 
one  another  intimately.  General  Mclvor  had  a  warm 
sympathy  for  the  type  of  Christian  work  represented  by 
the  Doshisha.  His  admiration  for  his  missionary  colleague 
was  sincere.  "  I  have  seldom,  if  ever,  seen  a  man  of  such 
combined  force  and  genuine  religion  as  Dr.  Davis.  His  re- 
ligion was  expressed  in  so  many  practical,  broad  ways  that 
he  exerted  a  strong  influence  upon  every  one  he  met.  His 
theology  may  have  been  conservative,  but  I  never  knew 
a  broader  man  in  interests,  or  one  more  lenient  in  his  judg- 
ment and  criticisms.  I  gained  a  new  conception  of  Chris- 
tianity in  my  association  with  him.  His  determination  and 
impetuosity  were  great  and  sometimes  exceeded  his  tact 
and  diplomacy,  but  his  heart  always  rang  true  and  he  was 
absolutely  open  and  aboveboard  in  everything  that  he 
attempted.  A  remarkable  characteristic  was  his  ability  to 
hold  the  personal  friendship  and  admiration  of  the  men  he 
was  most  earnestly  opposing."  On  the  other  hand,  Dr. 
Davis  gained  strong  impressions  of  General  Mclvor.  "  I 
never  saw  such  iron  will  and  such  clear,  forceful  logic 


"  RECONSTRUCTION  "  265 

combined  in  one  man  before,"  he  said,  in  describing  the 
lawyer's  attitude  in  his  first  interview  with  the  Board  of 
Trustees. 

Hard  duties  seemed  naturally  to  fall  to  him.  A  promi- 
nent member  of  the  old  Board,  strongly  backed  by  a  group 
of  his  fellow  trustees  and  the  choice  of  a  large  body  of 
alumni,  was  a  candidate  for  the  office  of  president.  The 
mission  was  a  unit  against  his  appointment,  a  small  mi- 
nority of  Japanese  opposed  him  and  the  American  Board 
did  not  favor  him  for  the  position.  Four  exciting  sessions 
of  the  Board  of  Trustees  were  held  in  Kyoto  on  the  12th 
and  13th  of  March.  At  midnight  of  the  13th,  when  a 
prominent  trustee  said  that  he  would  resign  if  the  popular 
candidate  was  not  elected,  and  one  or  two  others  made  the 
same  statement,  such  expressions  as,  "  Well,  we  all  might 
as  well  resign,"  began  to  circulate  the  table.  Finally  one 
of  the  trustees  arose  and  asked  Dr.  Davis  which  he  thought 
preferable,  to  elect  the  candidate  in  question,  as  president 
of  Doshisha,  or  to  close  the  school  for  a  few  years.  It 
was  a  trying  question  to  answer  in  the  presence  of  the  can- 
didate and  his  supporters,  but  without  a  moment's  hesita- 
tion, the  reply  came,  "  I  think  it  would  be  better  to  close 
the  school."  "  I  went  home  and  to  bed,  but  not  to  sleep, 
and  spent  the  night  in  prayer.  I  did  not  know  whether  I 
should  find  that  we  had  a  Board  of  Trustees  the  next 
morning  or  not.  ...  I  found,  however,  soon  after  reaching 
the  hall,  that  the  ship  had  righted  itself."  Two  different 
groups  of  trustees  had  been  led  during  the  night  to  think 
of  Mr.  Saibara,  the  Member  of  Parliament,  for  President  of 
the  Board.  Mr.  Saibara's  name  had  been  proposed  before 
his  arrival,  and  upon  coming  into  the  room  and  being  told 
that  he  was  nominated  for  the  presidency,  he  immediately 
said  that  he  was  not  fitted  for  the  post  and  laid  his  head 
upon  the  table  and  sobbed.  He  begged  to  be  released,  but 
all  were  unanimous  and  urged  so  earnestly  that  Mr.  Sai- 


266  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

bara,  at  length,  consented.  Mr.  Hirotsu,  who  had  recently 
returned  from  America,  was  nominated  as  Acting  Principal 
of  the  school. 

Of  that  midnight  meeting  he  wrote:  "  It  seemed  as  if 
the  new  Board  were  going  to  pieces.  ...  It  was  a  terrible 
test  for  these  young,  untried  men  to  have  to  go  against 
the  alumni,  and  against  the  solid  faculty  of  the  school 
sitting  right  before  them,  and  to  know  that  they  were  under 
a  fire  of  criticism  and  misrepresentation,  but  they  finally 
stood  like  rocks  and  made  the  decision,  and  the  morning 
session  was  calm  and  unanimous.  Mr.  Saibara  is  a  host. 
He  is  determined  that  the  school  shall  be  solidly  Christian 
and  he  gives  confidence  to  the  rest." 

Dr.  Davis'  admiration  for  the  group  of  men  who  without 
experience,  without  assurance  of  financial  backing  and  with 
the  certainty  of  the  withdrawal  of  every  government  privi- 
lege, had  put  the  school  back  upon  a  Christian  basis,  was 
very  great.  He  knew  many  of  the  criticisms  that  were 
being  launched  at  these  men  and  how  they  were  being 
watched  for  a  single  false  step  or  sign  of  weakness.  He 
knew,  too,  that  it  had  been  against  the  personal  prefer- 
ence and  advantage  of  many  of  them  to  serve  upon  the 
new  Board.  He  regarded  them  all  as  heroes,  and  felt  that 
the  least  that  the  mission  and  the  American  Board  could 
do  was  to  strongly  support  them  at  the  beginning  of 
their  hard  task  of  reconstruction. 

The  enrollment  of  the  Doshisha  had  dropped  to  one- 
fourth  of  its  former  members,  while  its  spirit  had  equally 
declined.  Only  a  dozen  earnest  Christian  students  re- 
mained and  several  of  the  strongest  professors,  dissatis- 
fied with  the  new  trustees,  had  resigned  their  positions. 
It  was,  however,  decided  to  open  the  Theological  Depart- 
ment again  in  cooperation  with  the  mission  and  to 
continue  the  Middle  School  through  the  year  without 
change,  hoping,  in  the  interval,  for  a  reversal  of  policy 


"  RECONSTRUCTION  "  267 

in  the  Educational  Department  toward  the  Christian 
schools. 

The  Board  was  hardly  elected  before  Dr.  Davis  was  de- 
vising ways  and  means  of  helping  the  Doshisha  through 
the  succeeding  critical  years.  The  importance  of  keeping 
up  a  full  teaching  force  and  a  complete  equipment  in  spite 
of  a  small  enrollment  could  not  be  over-estimated  if  the 
Doshisha  was  to  live.  His  letters  of  this  period  are  full  of 
appeals  to  Boston  and  to  American  friends  for  help.  "  I 
wish  there  were  among  the  many  friends  of  the  Doshisha, 
in  America,  some  who  would  make  a  special  gift  of,  say, 
$1,500  a  year,  for  two  or  three  years,  to  aid  the  school 
through  this  crisis.  If  it  can  be  helped  for  a  few  years,  I 
believe  it  will  be  restored  to  its  former  Christian  spirit,  and 
that  its  numbers  will  increase  so  that  with  what  endow- 
ment it  has  it  will  stand  upon  its  own  feet." 

With  the  reopening  of  the  Theological  Department  came 
the  old  question  of  Dr.  Davis'  relation  to  the  chair  of 
Theology.  Years  before  he  had  suggested  to  Secretary 
Clark  the  finding  of  a  young  man  of  exceptional  ability 
and  specialized  training  to  take  his  place  in  the  Theological 
Department. 

His  doubts  as  to  his  own  acceptability  for  this  work  had 
been  gradually  crystallizing.  He  was  no  longer  a  young 
man.  He  was  one  of  the  oldest  in  the  mission.  In  the 
meantime  younger  men,  trained  in  the  newer  schools  of 
theological  thought,  had  come  to  the  field  with  ideas 
which  were  more  in  accord  with  the  thinking  of  the  Japa- 
nese church.  He  applied  the  old  test  of  his  boyhood  years, 
"  How  can  I  make  my  life  count  the  most  for  God  and  for 
men?'*  There  was  no  faltering.  To  square  true  to  this 
base-line  of  action  he  must  resign  the  work  into  which  he 
had  put  the  study  and  devotion  of  twenty-five  years.  It 
was  not  that  he  had  lost  faith  in  the  Theology  which  he 
believed  and  taught;  he  was  never  more  convinced  that  it 


268  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

contained  the  power  of  God  unto  men  for  salvation.  It 
was  rather  that  he  believed  that  the  young  men  of  the 
church  whom  the  Doshisha  was  training  for  the  ministry 
were  not  satisfied  with  the  system  of  truth  which  he  repre- 
sented. He  could  not  be  a  stumbling  block  in  the  progress 
of  the  church  or  of  the  school;  if  there  must  be  sacrifice, 
let  it  be  the  man  and  not  the  community.  It  was  char- 
acteristic of  him  that  he  did  not  wait  for  these  facts  to  be 
pointed  out  to  him.  He  had  long  since  sensed  them  and 
decided  upon  action  when  time  for  action  should  come.  If 
the  surgeon's  knife  must  be  used,  he  preferred  to  apply  it 
with  his  own  hands. 

On  the  llth  of  April  he  wrote  to  Dr.  Barton:—  "  You 
will  have  heard  of  the  action  of  our  Board  of  Trustees  in 
regard  to  the  reopening  of  the  Doshisha  Theological  De- 
partment from  next  September.  I  think  Mr.  Albrecht  is, 
perhaps,  the  only  man  in  our  mission  who  would  give 
complete  satisfaction  to  the  Japanese  friends  in  the  position 
of  dean  of  that  department.  As  a  German,  he  is  able  to 
give  the  students  the  most  advanced  continental  theories. 
How  much  help  that  is  to  them  I  do  not  know,  but  it 
satisfies  them  as  I  cannot.  My  views  have  become  so 
broadened  and  I  have  realized  so  much  of  the  length  and 
breadth  and  height  and  depth  of  these  great  truths,  espe- 
cially, of  the  person  and  work  of  Christ,  that  I  am  unable 
to  accept  any  of  the  narrow,  so-called  new  views  of  them 
that  are  common  in  Japan  now.  If  my  conscience  would 
allow  me  to  teach  what  is  popular  and  keep  silent  on  the 
rest,  I  might  continue.  Besides,  I  have  the  reputation  of 
being  narrow  and  behind  the  times.  Hence,  at  my  earnest 
request,  I  have  been  relieved,  and  shall  give  myself  largely, 
while  the  Master  has  work  for  me  here,  to  evangelistic  work. 
There  is  plenty  of  work  to  do.  I  have  refused  more  than 
I  have  accepted  since  last  Fall.  Next  Saturday  I  am  to 
go  across  the  Lake  to  Bodaiji,  where  they  will  have  com- 


"  RECONSTRUCTION  "  269 

munion  and  an  old  woman  of  nearly  ninety  will  be  bap- 
tized. Next  Sabbath,  I  am  to  preach  in  the  Doshisha  in 
the  morning  and  in  the  weavers'  district  in  the  evening." 
Then  without  a  word  of  pessimism  for  the  Doshisha  or  the 
general  situation,  he  continued,  "  The  outlook  is  very 
cheering  here.  I  wish  we  might  receive  the  needed  rein- 
forcements. The  coming  of  Pastors  Harada  and  Miyagawa 
to  give  addresses  is  a  great  encouragement." 


CHAPTER  XVIII 
FIELDS  WHITE  TO  THE  HARVEST 

ALTHOUGH  Dr.  Davis'  name  has  been  more  closely 
identified  with  the  Doshisha  than  with  any  other 
missionary  activity,  Christian  education  never  lim- 
ited the  scope  of  his  endeavors,  nor  did  he  consider  it  the 
ultimate  goal  or  the  paramount  achievement  of  Christian 
mission  in  Japan.  From  first  to  last  his  heart  was  fixed 
upon  the  establishment  of  the  Kingdom  of  God  in  the 
empire  through  a  society  composed  of  individuals  whose 
hearts  had  been  changed  by  the  power  of  Christ.  His 
motives  while  teacher  were  evangelistic;  his  theology  was 
evangelistic.  He  did  not  treat  it  primarily  as  a  science,  but 
as  a  means  to  evangelize  men.  If  for  fifteen  years  he  de- 
voted himself  to  the  firm  establishment  of  the  Doshisha 
schools,  he  never  forgot  that  this  was  but  a  means  to  an 
end.  Yet  it  was  his  constant  aim  that  the  Doshisha 
should  be  saved  from  the  narrower  sphere  of  training 
Christian  workers,  alone,  to  a  Christian  school  of  liberal 
culture. 

He  believed  that  educational  work  without  evangelism 
was  not  fulfilling  its  highest  purpose,  and  that  evangelism, 
without  a  sound  educational  foundation,  lacked  depth  and 
stability.  The  degree  to  which  these  two  branches  of  the 
Congregational  work  have  sustained  each  other;  the  inti- 
mate way  in  which  the  life  blood  of  the  school  has  per- 
meated the  Kumi-ai  body  throughout  Japan,  while  the 
latter  has  applied  the  laboratory  of  faith  and  practice  for 
the  Doshisha,  is  a  striking  instance  upon  foreign  soil  of  the 
power  of  Congregationalism  to  achieve  large  results  through 
an  intimate  connection  between  college  and  church.  A 

270 


FIELDS  WHITE  TO  THE  HARVEST  271 

determining  factor  in  the  choice  of  Kyoto  as  a  site  for  the 
school  had  been  its  central  location,  surrounded  by  the 
most  populous  provinces  of  Japan;  its  strategic  position  in 
relation  to  evangelistic  work. 

Leading  the  way,  himself,  he  encouraged  the  young  men 
of  the  Theological  Department  of  the  Doshisha  to  work  in 
the  surrounding  districts.  Point  after  point  was  opened  in 
this  way  to  be  manned  by  students,  who  worked  on  alter- 
nate Sabbaths  and  spent  their  summer  vacations  in  this 
country  evangelism.  For  a  period  of  years  there  were  over 
fifty  towns  and  villages  in  the  provinces  near  Kyoto  which 
were  occupied  by  Doshisha  students  during  the  summer. 
These  summer  and  week-end  preaching  places  enabled  the 
Christian  students  to  have  a  taste  of  the  joy  of  the  work 
for  which  many  were  preparing,  it  kept  them  warm  in 
faith,  and  was  a  means  of  supporting  a  considerable  num- 
ber of  men  who  could  not  have  otherwise  remained  in 
school.  The  net  results  of  this  work  were  large,  and 
church  after  church  was  organized  later  with  these  same 
young  men  as  pastors. 

For  many  years  it  was  Dr.  Davis'  privilege  to  have  the 
oversight  of  much  of  this  outside  evangelism.  He  was  accus- 
tomed to  take  the  week-end  for  touring  and,  after  five  days 
of  teaching,  Friday  afternoon  or  Saturday  morning  would 
find  him  starting  for  some  point  in  a  neighboring  province 
to  give  encouragement  to  a  struggling  church  or  a  group  of 
half-organized  churches.  For  a  period  of  five  years,  from 
1888  to  1893,  he  had  the  oversight  of  the  evangelistic  work 
of  the  whole  Kyoto  district.  To  the  correspondence  and 
conferences  with  the  evangelists  and  the  constant  calls  for 
personal  cooperation  at  numerous  points  in  this  large  field, 
he  would  gladly  have  given  his  entire  time.  It  came  to 
form  the  background  of  his  mind  to  which  he  retired  for 
relief  and  comfort  from  some  of  the  distressing  problems 
confronting  him  in  the  school.  Here,  in  these  waiting  har- 


272  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

vest  fields  of  the  country  districts,  was  an  open  door  of 
opportunity,  which  no  man  could  shut,  where  he  was  always 
welcome,  and  where  the  power  of  the  truths  that  he  taught 
was  vindicated  by  glorious  results. 

A  glimpse  into  his  diary,  in  the  autumn  of  1893,  shows 
Dr.  Davis  in  the  midst  of  this  two-fold  work:  "Sat. 
Sept.  30th,  went  to  Yawata  and  Sabbath  morning 
walked  on  to  Osumi,  five  miles,  and  held  a  communion 
service,  with  a  sermon  in  the  morning  and  preaching  in 
the  evening.  Back  Monday  morning  and  into  the  school. 
Tuesday,  the  Gordons  arrived  from  America,  and  had  sup- 
per at  our  house.  Friday  evening  a  memorial  service 
for  Mr.  Foulk.  Sat.  went  to  Mikumo,  preached  in  the 
evening,  and  went  on  five  miles  to  Minakuchi  to  get  a 
quiet  hotel  and  slept  till  seven  next  morning.  Eight  hours 
of  meetings  that  day,  including  two  sermons  and  a  com- 
munion service.  Men  and  women  were  drinking  and  carous- 
ing in  adjoining  rooms,  so  I  slept  but  little.  Back  Mon- 
day morning  and  met  my  classes  in  the  afternoon  with 
eighteen  hours  of  teaching  that  week.  Two  long  faculty 
meetings  this  week  and  a  conference  in  Osaka." 

A  letter  to  his  children  describes  one  of  these  week- 
end journeys:  —  "Nov.  18th,  1897.  Dear  children:  —  I 
had  an  interesting  trip  to  Tamba.  I  left  here  at  eight 
o'clock  Saturday  morning,  and  had  dinner  in  Kamioka  and 
went  on  to  Shuchi,  arriving  at  four.  Sunday,  the  dedica- 
tion of  the  church  took  place.  It  is  only  18  by  35  ft.  and 
very  plain,  but  I  think  the  Christians,  who  out  of  their 
poverty  have  built  it,  were  as  happy  as  any  people  ever 
were  in  the  world.  They  had  arranged  beautiful  bouquets 
of  flowers  and  the  service  lasted  nearly  two  hours.  The 
church,  with  its  furniture,  cost  one  hundred  and  thirty 
dollars,  and  as  they  had  only  raised  ninety,  there  was  a 
deficit  of  forty  dollars,  which  we  raised  during  the  service. 
In  the  afternoon,  I  preached  a  sermon  on  the  Holy  Spirit, 


FIELDS  WHITE  TO  THE  HARVEST  273 

which  was  followed  by  a  communion  service  and  thirteen 
persons  were  baptized.  Nearly  one  hundred  members  out  of 
a  total  membership  of  one  hundred  and  four  were  present, 
some  coming  eighteen  miles  from  opposite  directions.  An 
old  paralytic  woman  was  brought  in  and  lay  on  the  floor 
all  through  the  service.  Afterward  I  walked  up  to  the 
one-hundred-foot  waterfall,  which  is  now  embowered  in  a 
mass  of  maple-leaved  glory.  In  the  evening,  we  had  a  mass 
meeting,  with  Messrs.  Hori,  Murakami  and  myself  preach- 
ing. The  house  was  packed,  inside  and  out,  with  no  stand- 
ing room  left.  After  the  meeting  many  of  the  Christians 
came  to  the  hotel  and  talked  until  nearly  midnight.  Mr. 
Mayeda,  the  Kyoto-Fu  Assemblyman  for  Tamba,  came 
home  late  Saturday  night  to  be  present  at  the  dedication 
and  started  back  to  Kyoto  at  five  o'clock  Monday  morn- 
ing. He  acted  as  usher  all  day.  Yesterday,  I  started  before 
daybreak  and  reached  home  in  time  for  my  afternoon  Bible 
class  in  the  Girls'  School." 

There  were  very  real  hardships  connected  with  the  work, 
and,  however  much  he  might  make  light  of  them,  they  were 
facts  to  be  reckoned  with.  The  lack  of  sufficient  sleep  is  a 
serious  tax  upon  the  strength  of  the  touring  missionary  in 
Japan.  Conditions  in  the  hotels  could  scarcely  be  more 
poorly  adapted  for  restful  or  unbroken  sleep:  paper  parti- 
tions, through  which  the  slightest  noise  penetrates;  ad- 
joining guests,  often  entertained  by  carousing  friends; 
barking  dogs;  the  probability  of  noisy  neighbors  across  the 
street  and  the  certainty  of  early  departures  from  your 
hotel  at  an  hour  when  you  are  beginning  to  congratulate 
yourself  that  the  noises  of  the  night  have  worn  themselves 
out.  Add  to  these,  such  small  matters  as  hard  beds  on 
the  floor,  quilts  that  have  been  used  by  generations  of 
travellers,  and  voracious  fleas  that  consider  the  foreigner 
an  interesting  change  of  diet,  and  one  may  understand 
some  of  the  ordinary  conditions  of  interior  travel  in  Japan, 


274  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

In  the  remote  country  inns,  before  the  days  of  the  Osaka 
ninety-sen  alarm-clock,  landlords  depended  upon  the 
crowing  of  the  roosters  for  telling  the  night  hours.  Fowls 
whose  crowing  habits  had  been  carefully  noted  were  housed 
upon  the  smoky  rafters  of  the  great,  common  apartment 
in  which  all  slept,  and  by  their  crowing  the  hour  of  depar- 
ture of  early  guests  was  regulated.  It  was  not  uncommon 
for  the  traveller  to  ask  to  be  allowed  to  sleep  under  "  the 
three  o'clock  bird,"  or  "  the  four  o'clock  bird,"  as  the  case 
might  be,  to  insure  against  oversleeping.  In  a  town  near 
Kyoto,  where  Dr.  Davis  occasionally  visited,  a  vociferous 
chanticleer  of  irregular  habits  serenaded  him  so  frequently 
at  night,  in  the  hotel  where  he  was  compelled  to  stay, 
that  he  finally  tried  the  plan  of  paying  the  landlord  to 
carry  his  bird  to  the  opposite  side  of  the  village,  where  it 
was  kept  in  solitary  confinement  whenever  he  came  to  town. 

Of  hard  beds,  insufficient  food,  cold,  long  jinricksha  rides 
across  mountain  ranges  in  the  dead  of  winter,  Dr.  Davis 
never  complained,  but  with  his  nervous  temperament  and 
mental  activity  the  steady  shortage  of  sleep  was  a  con- 
stant drain  upon  his  strength.  He  fought  for  his  sleep  as 
for  very  life  and  would  not  infrequently  walk  or  ride  on  to 
the  next  village  to  chance  finding  a  quiet  hotel.  "  Last 
night,  a  group  of  people  drank  and  sang  in  the  adjoining 
room  until  after  one  o'clock,  while  next  door  in  a  govern- 
ment office,  some  one  was  dictating  records  in  a  loud  voice 
until  nearly  the  same  hour,  and  at  half-past  four,  the 
opening  of  the  hotel  shutters  proclaimed  that  the  night  was 
over. 

"  We  started  early  in  jinrickshas,  and  reached  Kamioka, 
where  boats  start,  about  noon.  The  water  was  so  low  in 
the  river  that  progress  was  slow,  and  I  did  not  reach 
Arashiyama  until  two.  ...  I  then  bought  four  fresh  eggs, 
a  cent's  worth  of  sugar  and  two  and  a  half  cents'  worth  of 
boiled  rice  and  made  a  rice  pudding  for  dinner.  I  have 


FIELDS  WHITE  TO  THE  HARVEST  275 

had  some  curious  dishes  this  time.  One  popular  dish  is  a 
sandwich  made  of  boiled  rice,  with  a  raw  trout  cut  open 
and  laid  on  top,  with  head,  fins  and  all  on;  it  is  pretty 
good  if  one  is  hungry.  I  bought  a  tin  of  beef  and  found 
it  was  put  up  with  sugar  and  ginger.  It  was  good,  though. 
I  slept  an  average  of  three  hours  and  a  half  in  twenty-four 
for  a  week,  but  came  back  feeling  very  well.  .  .  .  These 
little  churches  have  the  largest  organs  that  I  ever  heard; 
they  cover  several  acres.  The  rice  fields  are  all  about  them, 
coming  right  up  to  the  sides  of  two  of  the  churches,  and 
the  frogs  keep  up  a  continual  and  almost  deafening  roar. 
In  the  mountains  the  other  day,  where  no  foreigner  had 
ever  been  before,  I  asked  an  old  farmer  the  way  and  talked 
with  him  a  moment.  He  looked  at  me  closely,  and  then 
said  to  another  near  by:  —  'He  looks  like  a  foreigner;  he 
has  a  beard,  but  he  speaks  like  one  of  us.'  It  is  precious 
to  see  the  interest  of  those  simple  Christians  in  the  work 
of  spreading  the  Gospel  and  to  see  how  the  people  come  to 
listen." 

There  were  also  many  demands  for  local  evangelism  in 
Kyoto.  In  addition  to  usually  preaching  night  and  morn- 
ing in  the  churches  and  preaching  places  of  the  city,  many 
of  which  he  had  had  an  active  part  in  organizing,  there  were 
calls  for  work  with  special  groups,  such  as  companies  of 
workmen  in  the  neighboring  carpenter's  home,  the  moun- 
tain men  at  Yase  and  the  factory  hands  in  the  weavers' 
district  of  the  city. 

Dr.  Davis*  appreciation  of  natural  beauty  was  a  factor 
in  his  touring  which  was  a  constant  inspiration  and  a  source 
of  rest.  His  letters  are  full  of  descriptions  of  the  mountain 
grandeur  and  the  beauties  of  the  autumnal  and  spring 
foliage.  Of  the  journey  from  Kyoto  to  the  west  coast,  he 
wrote:  "  It  seemed  as  if  we  were  travelling  all  day  through 
fairy  land;  the  steep  mountain  sides  were  aflame  with  Au- 
tumn glory;  maples,  sumacs,  and  a  dozen  other  shades  of 


276  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

yellow  and  red,  and  blended  with  them  all  were  as  many 
shades  of  green;  the  pyramidal  foliage  of  the  cryptomeria, 
the  rounder  cones  of  the  arbor-vitae,  the  more  irregular 
branches  of  the  pines  and  many  other  half  deciduous  trees 
which  do  not  shed  their  leaves  till  Spring.  Huge  moun- 
tain bouquets  with  lateral  valleys  on  each  side  of  the  road, 
and  cascades  and  water-falls  framed  in  the  glory  of  the 
foliage.  During  five  days  I  travelled  through  such  beauty 
and  rejoiced  as  I  thought:  '  If  earth  is  so  beautiful,  what 
must  heaven  be ! ' 

"  Sabbath,  it  poured  all  day,  but  this  did  not  prevent 
thirty  Christians  from  coming  to  the  service,  many  of 
whom  walked  seven  to  twelve  miles  through  the  pouring 
rain  over  mountain  roads.  We  met  in  a  little  room  with 
space  for  thirty  people  to  crowd  in  on  the  floor.  The 
walls  were  of  mud,  the  ceiling  so  low  that  I  could  just 
stand,  but  it  seemed  like  the  very  gateway  of  heaven  as 
Mr.  Okabe  preached  the  sermon  and  I  baptized  seven 
adults  and  one  child  and  we  observed  the  Lord's  Supper 
together.  That  evening  we  had  a  good  audience  in  a 
larger  room.  The  next  morning,  after  an  early  breakfast 
of  salt  fish  and  rice,  we  took  the  twenty-five  mile  ride  over 
the  mountains  to  Tsuruga  Oka.  It  is  a  scattering  village 
of  fifty  straw-thatched  houses.  I  was  the  first  foreigner 
who  had  ever  been  in  the  village  and  was  given  the  best 
room  in  Mr.  Uchimak's  house  and  a  bed  of  thick  quilts  on 
the  mats,  with  two  above  for  covering.  It  is  a  good  deal 
like  sleeping  between  two  thick  boards,  but  one  gets  used 
to  it.  I  was  given  an  extra  allowance  of  eggs,  too,  and  for 
two  days  lived  high  on  eggs  and  rice.  The  next  morning 
the  old  father  and  mother  and  a  son  and  his  wife  were 
examined  for  baptism.  We  listened  to  the  story  of  their 
conversion,  then  Mr.  Okabe  preached  a  sermon,  I  baptized 
them  and  we  observed  the  Lord's  Supper  together.  The 
whole  family,  except  one  son,  are  Christians  now,  and  it 


FIELDS  WHITE  TO  THE  HARVEST  277 

was  touching  to  see  their  joy  as  they  sat  all  together, 
receiving  the  sacred  emblems  of  Christ's  sufferings  and 
death.  In  the  afternoon,  I  spoke  for  an  hour  to  the  head 
man  of  the  village,  with  minor  officials,  school  teachers  and 
students.  In  the  evening,  although  it  rained,  a  goodly 
company  listened  until  half-past  ten.  The  next  morning 
the  rain  ceased,  and  I  walked  half  of  the  thirty-six  miles 
over  the  mountains  to  Kyoto.  I  was  fourteen  hours 
on  the  way,  reaching  home  at  nine  o'clock,  tired  but 
happy.' 

With  the  withdrawal  of  the  American  Board  mission- 
aries from  the  Doshisha  in  1896,  the  way  was  open  for 
much  more  extended  tours.  He  eagerly  accepted  invita- 
tions for  evangelistic  work,  which  began  to  come  to  him 
from  all  parts  of  Japan.  Each  year  now  saw  him  taking 
from  two  to  six  extended  tours  to  different  parts  of  the 
empire.  When  it  was  known  in  the  Kumi-ai  body  that  Dr. 
Davis  was  no  longer  connected  with  the  Doshisha,  calls 
came  from  six  of  his  old  pupils  to  settle  in  their  fields  for 
exclusively  evangelistic  work.  It  seemed,  however,  too 
uncertain  a  juncture  to  make  such  a  radical  change.  He 
believed  that  the  pendulum  of  the  school  would  swing  back, 
and  he  wished  to  remain  where  he  was  to  watch  develop- 
ments and,  in  the  meantime,  do  all  in  his  power  to  advance 
the  general  cause. 

In  rapid  succession  he  visited  widely  separated  sections 
of  the  country  from  northern  Hokkaido  to  Kyushiu  and 
Shikoku  on  the  south.  These  trips  far  afield  continued 
to  impress  him  with  the  immensity  of  the  task  remaining 
for  the  Christian  church  and  with  the  timeliness  of  a  for- 
ward evangelistic  movement.  Of  a  tour  in  the  North  he 
wrote:  —  "  Thirty- two  days,  mostly  spent  in  Japanese  inns, 
living  on  Japanese  food,  sleeping  from  three  to  five  hours  a 
night  and  speaking  thirty-two  times,  but  well,  happy  and 
not  very  tired.  What  are  the  impressions  gained  from  the 


278  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

tour?  First,  Japan  is  more  ready  for  the  Gospel  than  ever 
before.  The  official  classes  are  more  favorably  disposed  and 
the  masses  more  ready  to  hear  than  at  any  time  since  Ja- 
pan was  opened.  Second,  the  era  of  doubt  and  rationalis- 
tic discussion  has  passed  its  zenith.  Many  of  the  pastors 
and  Christians  realize  their  need  of  a  positive  faith  and  are 
hungering  for  spiritual  food.  Third,  wherever  earnest  men 
are  preaching  a  positive  Gospel,  churches  are  alive  and  souls 
are  being  gathered  into  the  Kingdom.  Fourth,  the  lack  of 
workers.  That  great  Aidzu  valley,  with  its  three  hundred 
square  miles  of  villages,  has  no  missionary.  Oh,  how  they 
did  plead  for  a  missionary!  Echigo,  over  one  hundred 
miles  long  and  half  as  wide,  has  only  two  missionaries  and 
ten  Japanese  workers.  Its  great  plains  and  valleys  impress 
me  with  the  fact  that,  '  there  remaineth  yet  very  much 
land  to  be  possessed.'  ' 

It  was  undoubtedly  the  close  touch  which  Dr.  Davis 
kept  with  the  general  evangelistic  field  and  his  familiarity 
with  the  disproportion  of  Christian  workers  between  coun- 
try and  city  that  kept  him  from  first  to  last  an  advocate 
of  mission  expansion.  During  the  dark  days  of  mission 
fortunes,  when  some  were  leaving  Japan,  others  planning 
an  early  return  and  nearly  all  were  advising  against  more 
reinforcements,  he  never  ceased  urging  the  American  Board 
and  the  Congregational  churches  to  sustain  and  strengthen 
their  work  in  Japan.  He  had  had  ample  grounds  for  dis- 
illusionment since  those  early  days  in  the  eighties,  when  it 
seemed  as  if  all  Japan  were  to  be  swept  into  the  Kingdom 
in  a  generation;  he  had  received  his  share  of  opposition 
and  criticism  from  the  Japanese,  but  with  prophetic  vision 
he  saw  that  these  vicissitudes  were  temporary  movements, 
incident  to  the  re-birth  of  a  nation.  His  intimate  knowl- 
edge of  the  rank  and  file  of  the  church  led  him  to  the  con- 
viction that  it  still  welcomed  the  cooperation  of  the  mis- 
sionary and  that  it  was  merely  a  matter  of  time  until  the 


FIELDS  WHITE  TO  THE  HARVEST  279 

missionary  should  be  recognized  as  filling  an  indispensable 
place  in  Japan. 

In  the  spring  of  1909,  the  year  before  his  death,  Dr. 
Davis  was  consulted  by  a  secretary  of  one  of  the  mission 
boards  as  to  the  wisdom  of  gradually  closing  their  work 
or  largely  reinforcing  it.  His  convictions  were  stated  so 
clearly  and  backed  up  so  strikingly  with  illustrations  in  the 
history  of  his  own  mission  and  the  Doshisha,  that  the  argu- 
ment for  reinforcement  seemed  iconclusive.  He  wrote  of 
this  interview: — "  I  almost  tremble  to  express  my  opinion 
on  some  things,  lest  it  be  given  more  weight  than  it  de- 
serves. They  seem  to  think  that  a  man  who  has  been  in 
Japan  nearly  forty  years  ought  to  know  everything,  and 
be  able  to  give  sound  advice  on  all  points  of  mission  policy. 
I  cannot  fill  that  bill,  but  have  to  do  the  best  I  can."  In 
this  connection  it  is  of  interest  to  note  that  within  three 
years  this  Board  had  doubled  its  staff  of  missionaries  in 
Japan  and  had  planned  a  comprehensive  scheme  of  expan- 
sion of  its  entire  work. 

One  of  the  busiest  tours  of  the  earlier  period  was  in 
April,  1892,  in  the  district  west  of  Kyoto.  "  I  left  Kyoto 
Friday  noon,  and  had  travelled  thirty  miles  by  night.  The 
next  morning,  starting  at  half-past  five,  I  travelled  sixty 
miles  by  jinricksha  over  the  fine  road  that  winds  through 
the  mountains  and  in  and  out  along  the  sea-shore  near 
Miyadzu.  That  evening  we  had  a  prayer-meeting.  The 
next  day,  the  Sabbath,  I  preached  in  the  morning,  five  per- 
sons were  baptized  and  the  Lord's  Supper  was  celebrated. 
One  of  those  baptized  was  the  eighth  member  to  receive 
baptism  of  the  family  of  the  woman  who  was  baptized  a 
year  ago,  the  keeper  of  a  house  of  prostitution,  who  set  free 
all  the  girls  whom  she  had  bought  and  who  has  lived  a 
most  happy  life  since.  Dr.  Gordon  baptized  twenty-five 
and  Dr.  Albrecht  fifteen  here,  a  year  ago,  so  that  there  are 
now  forty-five  members.  We  had  an  evening  service,  with 


280  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

two  sermons,  and  Monday  evening  the  great  theatre  was 
packed  with  six  hundred  people,  while  three  of  us  spoke. 

"  Tuesday  morning  the  pastor  of  the  Miyazu  church  and 
I,  started  by  rowboat  along  the  coast  and  tramped  up  the 
mountain  to  Mineyama,  fifteen  miles,  where  we  had  a 
preaching  service  that  evening.  Next  day  we  went  on  to 
Amino,  five  miles  south,  the  home  of  the  old  lady  who  was 
converted  while  on  the  way  to  the  Ise  shrines  and  has 
given  largely  of  her  fortune  to  help  build  three  churches. 
One  of  these  was  dedicated  in  her  home  town  the  evening 
we  arrived.  The  rain  poured,  but  the  new  church  was 
packed,  and  a  great  crowd  stood  in  the  street,  holding  um- 
brellas over  their  heads,  until  eleven  o'clock.  After  that  we 
had  a  love  feast  of  rice  salad,  raw  fish  and  bean  turn-overs 
and  tea,  until  after  midnight.  The  next  morning  two  were 
baptized,  one  woman  in  the  face  of  such  great  family  op- 
position that  many  in  the  audience  were  moved  to  tears. 
In  the  evening  another  preaching  service  until  eleven. 

"  The  next  morning  I  started  at  five,  rode  twenty  miles 
over  mountain  ranges  in  a  fierce  storm  to  find  that  the 
bridge  across  the  Wachi  river  had  just  given  way.  '  Not  a 
bridge  or  a  ferry  for  thirty-five  miles,'  they  said,  '  and 
nothing  to  do,  but  to  wait  a  few  days  till  the  river  sub- 
sides so  that  a  boat  can  cross.'  I  went  down  the  river 
four  miles  to  a  remote  ferry,  but  nothing  would  induce  the 
men  to  cross.  Five  miles  further  down  I  found  that  the 
river  shoaled  out  enough  for  poles  to  reach  the  bottom, 
and  I  finally  induced  some  men  to  pole  me  over.  I  then 
had  to  walk  over  the  mountains,  twelve  miles,  to  a  jin- 
ricksha road,  and  reached  Shuchi,  thirty  miles  from  home, 
at  eight  o'clock  at  night.  I  preached  nine  nights  in  suc- 
cession, with  three  communion  services,  and  all  the  talking 
between  times,  was  up  until  midnight  nearly  every  night, 
lived  on  Japanese  food,  with  heavy  travel  crowded  into  a 
rainy  spell  in  which  I  ditf  not  see  the  sun  for  over  a  week, 


FIELDS  WHITE  TO  THE  HARVEST  281 

and  then  had  the  hard  trip  home,  to  find  a  pile  of  letters 
and  accumulated  work  awaiting  me.  This  has  not  left  me 
very  rested,  but  I  wish  some  of  those  people  who  think 
that  missionaries  have  too  good  a  time,  living  in  luxury, 
could  have  followed  me  around,  eating,  walking  and  sleep- 
ing as  I  did,  nay,  I  rather  wish  that  they  had  the  love  of 
Christ  in  their  hearts,  which  makes  this  work  easy  and  full 
of  joy." 

Eighteen  hundred  and  ninety-seven  marked  the  high  tide 
of  his  touring  activity.  In  this  year  he  made  seven  ex- 
tended trips,  averaging  nearly  a  month  in  length  and  ag- 
gregating almost  ten  thousand  miles.  February  and  March 
were  spent  in  the  southern  island  of  Kyushiu  and  Shikoku, 
where  in  thirty- two  days  he  spoke  fifty- two  times.  Of 
Kyushiu  he  notes:  —  "  It  is  a  most  hopeful  field  and  needs 
workers  who  will  go  with  a  strong  purpose  to  hold  on  and 
out."  The  opportunity  and  needs  of  the  work  in  Shikoku 
so  impressed  him  that,  before  leaving,  he  promised  to  re- 
turn in  a  month  for  further  work.  On  his  return  from  the 
South,  however,  a  two  weeks'  attack  of  rheumatism  and 
sciatica  reminded  him  of  what  he  was  seldom  allowed  to 
forget  from  now  on,  that  he  was  growing  old  and  could 
not  endure  hardships  without  paying  the  price.  The  sec- 
ond Shikoku  tour  lasted  another  month,  and  proved  one  of 
the  most  fruitful  that  he  had  ever  attempted. 

Not  all  of  his  tours  were  conducted  under  such  pleasant 
conditions  as  these  to  southern  Japan.  In  November,  1902, 
he  had  started  upon  a  week's  trip  into  the  interior,  when 
a  tooth  began  to  trouble  him.  "  I  could  not  sleep  that 
night  and  went  to  a  dentist,  who  tried  to  kill  the  nerve, 
but  only  made  it  worse.  I  went  on  to  Arayube  and  spoke 
that  night,  but  Sunday  morning  determined  to  have  the 
unruly  tooth  removed,  as  I  could  eat  nothing  and  it 
pained  continuously.  After  drinking  some  milk  and  preach- 
ing at  ten,  I  went  to  the  doctor.  He  wrenched  and  twisted 


282  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

for  a  time,  but  his  forceps  slipped  and  knocked  out  two  of 
my  remaining  front  teeth.  Both  jaws  were  so  bruised  that 
I  could  take  no  solid  food  for  five  days.  I  talked  to  some 
soldiers  that  afternoon  in  the  barracks  for  an  hour,  and 
preached  in  the  evening,  and  feared  I  should  have  to  go 
home,  but  being  no  worse  the  next  morning  and  having 
come  so  far,  and  with  speaking  announcements  out  in  three 
other  places,  I  decided  to  continue  the  trip."  Under  these 
conditions  he  had  spoken  seven  consecutive  nights,  in  as 
many  towns,  widely  separated  by  mountain  ranges,  with 
day  meetings  interspersed,  yet  he  could  reach  home  saying 
that  he  was  not  especially  tired,  and  take  up  the  accumu- 
lated work  of  committee  meetings,  teaching,  conferences, 
and  writing,  without  even  the  respite  of  a  half  day. 

Dr.  Davis  was  privileged  to  witness  in  increasingly 
fruitful  evangelistic  work  until  past  three-score  years  and 
ten.  His  last  tours  were,  from  the  standpoint  of  rich  re- 
sults, among  the  most  blessed  of  his  life.  The  travelling 
was  accomplished  each  year  with  increasing  difficulty,  with 
colds  and  bronchitis  and,  finally,  arterial  trouble,  but  while 
the  physical  force  was  perceptibly  waning,  the  inner  fires 
glowed  with  undiminished  intensity.  At  an  age  when  it  is 
natural  to  enjoy  the  comforts  of  home  and  of  a  quiet  life, 
his  soul  burned  with  an  increasing  passion  to  glean  men  for 
his  Master  from  the  wide  harvest  field. 

His  last  evangelistic  tour  was  taken  in  the  winter  of 
1910,  at  the  request  of  the  Kyoto  District  Conference.  In 
company  with  Pastor  Makino,  he  spent  eight  days  in  the 
region  of  Maizuru,  on  the  west  coast,  speaking  fourteen 
times  to  bands  of  Christians  and  enquirers.  He  says:  "  I 
went  under  Mr.  Makino's  wing,  and  I  believe  this  marks  a 
beginning  of  such  cooperation,  with  our  Japanese  brethren 
as  the  leaders,  which  will  be  more  fruitful  in  blessed  results 
than  any  work  we  have  hitherto  done."  These  words  of 
the  veteran  evangelist,  spoken  so  shortly  before  his  death, 


FIELDS  WHITE  TO  THE  HARVEST  283 

are  prophetic  of  the  new  era  of  cooperative  evangelism 
which  has  characterized  the  work  of  the  Kumi-ai  churches 
and  the  Congregational  missionaries. 

Only  once  during  the  thirty-nine  years  of  Dr.  Davis' 
life  in  Japan  was  a  serious  attempt  made  to  disturb  a 
meeting  or  interfere  with  his  speaking.  The  theatre  where 
he  and  his  associates  were  advertised  to  speak  in  the  old 
castle  town  of  Kikone,  upon  the  shores  of  Lake  Biwa,  was 
nearly  filled  by  a  company  of  Buddhist  priests  and  their 
followers,  who  evidently  intended  to  break  up  the  meeting. 
"  It  was  only  by  the  hardest  effort  that  Messrs.  Ebina  and 
Kanoko  finished  their  addresses.  When  I  went  onto  the 
platform  they  shouted  '  Ketojin'  (a  hairy  foreigner).  I 
made  a  polite  bow  and  told  them  that  I  always  liked  to 
talk  to  young  men  and  that  I  hoped  I  could  help  them, 
that  all  young  men  wanted  to  succeed  in  life  and  that  I 
would  tell  them  some  of  the  elements  of  success.  First,  a 
great  aim,  in  harmony  with  heaven,  with  conscience  and 
with  men;  second,  a  great  Master,  one  who  has  power  to 
save,  to  make  us  better  men  and  to  give  us  self-control 
and  to  be  an  example  for  our  faith  and  conduct.  Now, 
every  faithful  disciple  strives  to  imitate  the  spirit  and 
conduct  of  his  master;  thus  we  may  compare  masters  by 
comparing  the  conduct  and  spirit  of  the  disciples.  I  come 
to  you,  tonight,  in  the  spirit  and  following  the  example  of 
Christ,  who  endeavoured  to  save  all  men  through  his  holy, 
kind  and  noble  life;  I  take  it  that  you  followers  of  Buddha 
also  come  in  the  spirit  of  your  master,  but  if  so,  you  are 
representing  a  very  unworthy  master  by  the  conduct  you 
have  maintained  in  this  meeting."  Before  the  speaker  had 
progressed  far  in  this  pointed  argument,  heads  began  to 
hang  in  shame,  and,  as  he  continued,  one  after  another 
of  the  disturbers  silently  rose  and  left  the  hall,  until  scarcely 
one  remained.  Later  several  of  these  same  men  became 
earnest  Christians. 


CHAPTER  XIX 
PERSONAL  EVANGELISM 

THOUGH  for  more  than  thirty  years  Dr.  Davis  was 
a  familiar  figure  in  the  Doshisha  class  room  it  is  the 
influence  of  the  man  and  not  the  teacher  that  re- 
mains among  his  students.  His  interest  in  his  pupils  was 
too  genuine  to  be  satisfied  with  a  formal  relationship.  For 
many  years  he  was  accustomed  to  pray,  daily,  for  every 
member  of  his  classes  and  knew  each  man  by  name.  Their 
life  stories  were  familiar  to  him;  their  struggles  for  an  edu- 
cation, their  sorrows,  their  temptations,  their  doubts  and 
their  victories  were  a  part  of  his  life.  He  seemed  to  keep 
the  right  perspective,  never  forgetting  that  he  was  in 
Japan  to  bring  spiritual  and  moral  power  to  individuals  as 
well  as  to  the  community.  There  was  something  in  the 
foreign  teacher  that  invited  the  confidence  of  the  students. 
One  of  the  Kumamoto  Band,  Rev.  D.  Ebina  of  Tokyo,  has 
said:  "  It  was  Dr.  Davis  to  whom  the  students  of  the  early 
Doshisha  looked  up.  It  was  he  that  attracted  and  led  the 
promising  youths  of  those  days.  The  vestige  of  a  brave 
soldier  still  lingered  about  his  brow,  —  a  manly  man,  of 
firm  mind,  still  young,  under  forty." 

His  home  for  thirty-five  years  was  open  to  the  students. 
They  came  to  him  as  naturally  as  to  a  Japanese;  they 
came  as  sons  to  a  father,  as  boys  to  an  elder  brother,  sure 
of  sound  advice,  of  sympathy  and  of  spiritual  uplift.  Those 
in  whom  he  was  specially  interested  he  would  occasionally 
invite  to  supper  for  special  consultation  in  his  study.  Not 
only  did  the  students  of  the  pioneer  school  frequent  the 
home  of  the  vigorous  young  missionary,  but,  thirty  years 
later,  the  boys  of  the  modern  Doshisha  and  government 

284 


PERSONAL  EVANGELISM  285 

schools  were  still  drawn  to  the  veteran  teacher.  Indeed 
this  personal  work  increased  with  the  years,  as  his  teaching 
schedule  decreased. 

His  letters  to  his  family  constantly  describe  individuals 
whom  he  was  helping  in  various  ways.  "  Last  evening 
we  had  two  students  to  supper.  Today,  a  young  man  of 
the  third  year  class  came  to  say  '  Goodbye/  He  lives  in 
Yamada,  the  bigotted  Shinto  town  where  the  great  central 
shrine  is  located.  He  has  become  a  Christian  here,  but  his 
family  are  all  unbelievers.  His  health  has  failed  and  he  goes 
home  to  rest.  He  is  one  of  a  little  company  of  classmates 
who  have  come  to  me  several  times  for  spiritual  help.  He 
said  that  he  had  only  been  an  intellectual  Christian  before, 
but  that  I  had  helped  him  to  lay  hold  on  a  personal  Sav- 
iour and  he  wanted  to  thank  me  and  to  get  some  more 
advice  before  he  should  go  to  his  home.  This  is  one  of  the 
experiences  which  makes  life  not  only  worth  living,  but 
rich.  It  is  a  rare  pleasure  to  assist  a  man  toward  the  light 
and  to  see  the  soul  light  up  right  under  your  eyes." 

A  Kyushiu  judge,  led  by  the  letters  of  his  son,  a  student 
in  America,  to  decide  for  Christ,  travelled  five  hundred 
miles  to  be  baptized  by  Dr.  Davis  on  Mt.  Hiei.  During 
a  vacation  in  1900,  thirty-six  different  individuals,  students, 
pastors  and  teachers,  climbed  the  mountain  to  his  camp  for 
spiritual  or  practical  advice.  Escaping  to  a  temple  retreat 
on  Lake  Hakone,  three  hundred  miles  northeast,  in  an 
effort  to  rest,  still  groups  of  students  and  others  found  him 
and  laid  their  burdens  upon  his  heart.  In  despair  of  find- 
ing a  secluded  place  to  rest,  he  remarked:  —  "I  suppose, 
if  I  should  spend  the  summer  on  the  summit  of  Mt.  Fuji 
they  would  follow  up  there." 

From  1906  on,  groups  of  government  school  students  were 
in  the  habit  of  coming  to  Dr.  Davis'  home  for  regular 
meetings  of  consecration  and  prayer,  and  toward  the  close 
of  his  life  he  was  sought  more  and  more  for  this  intimate, 


286  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

inspirational  contact.  February  4th,  1906:  —  "The  stu- 
dents from  the  University  and  Higher  Middle  School  came 
in  for  a  consecration  meeting  at  two  o'clock  and  asked  me 
to  speak  to  them  of  the  way  to  receive  the  Holy  Spirit, 
and  then  of  the  meaning  of  the  church  and  the  reasons  of 
its  necessity  for  Christians.  .  .  .  This  morning  I  speak  at 
the  communion  service  in  the  Rakyo  church,  and  this  after- 
noon the  students  from  the  University  are  coming  again. 
They  are  coming  once  a  month,  and  as  this  is  my  night  at 
home  for  Doshisha  students  they  will  come  Monday  even- 
ing instead,  this  week.  The  Theological  students  come 
Friday  evening  after  prayer-meeting  to  ask  questions. 
I  declined  a  pressing  invitation  to  speak  at  an  alumni 
meeting  at  Osaka  last  evening,  much  as  I  wanted  to  go, 
feeling  that  I  had  too  important  work  on  hand  today  to 
allow  it." 

The  next  year,  he  was  asked  to  take  charge  of  a  new 
center  of  student  work  which  the  Doshisha  opened  in  the 
university  district,  east  of  the  river.  Of  a  Sabbath,  he 
wrote:  "  I  preached  today  at  the  Doshisha,  in  the  morn- 
ing, and  at  the  '  Airinsha  '  in  the  evening.  Four  sets  of 
Normal  School  students  came  in  during  the  afternoon  to 
inquire  about  Christianity.  I  noted  some  of  their  ques- 
tions: What  is  the  chief  end  of  man?  What  is  the  true 
basis  of  morals?  What  becomes  of  those  who  die  impeni- 
tent? How  are  we  to  escape  from  our  daily  sins?  Can 
any  be  saved  who  know  not  Christ?  Tell  me  all  about 
Christianity;  I  have  heard  almost  nothing  about  it.  Such 
questionnaires  keep  one  fairly  busy." 

Dr.  Davis'  knowledge  of  the  Doshisha  and  its  students 
was  intimate;  for  a  generation  his  finger  was  on  the  pulse 
of  the  school,  quick  to  detect  the  slightest  variation  in  its 
spiritual,  physical  or  social  health,  and  if  his  letters  and 
conversation  regarding  the  Doshisha  were  often  filled  with 
anxieties  and  prophecies  of  disaster,  it  was  because  he  loved 


PERSONAL  EVANGELISM  287 

it  with  the  love  of  a  parent  and  could  not  endure  the  en- 
trance of  tendencies  which  might  retard  its  greatest  good. 
That  every  individual  student  should  have  Jesus  Christ 
enthroned  in  his  heart  as  Saviour  and  Lord  seemed  to 
him  none  too  lofty  an  ambition  for  the  Doshisha,  and  it 
was  this  that  he  constantly  held  up  before  his  classes  and 
associates.  How  nearly  the  school  of  the  first  years  came 
to  fulfilling  this  high  ideal,  the  records  of  those  years 
witness.  In  1889,  "We  have  at  the  end  of  the  school  year 
about  eight  hundred  and  eighty  students  in  our  schools; 
five  hundred  and  twelve  are  Christians  and  one  hundred 
and  sixty-five  were  baptized  during  the  year.  There  are 
three  among  the  twenty-five  graduates  who  are  not  Christians. 
In  the  thirteen  years  since  the  school  began  we  have  grad- 
uated only  four  or  five  other  men  who  were  not  Christians." 
It  was  to  be  expected  that  Dr.  Davis  would  warmly 
welcome  efforts  of  visiting  evangelists  in  the  Doshisha. 
During  Mr.  Wishard's  visit  in  February,  1889,  he  wrote, 
"  This  has  been  a  very  busy  and  precious  day.  The 
work  of  Mr.  Wishard  and  Mr.  Swift  has  been  greatly 
blessed.  The  whole  school  is  aroused.  There  has  been  no 
excitement,  but  nearly  all  the  Christians  in  the  school  are 
stirred  to  do  personal  work.  February  7th:  The  work 
still  goes  on;  meetings  in  the  early  evening  each  day  and 
our  house  open  every  afternoon,  from  one  till  five,  for  in- 
quirers who  wish  to  come  and  meet  Messrs.  Wishard  and 
Swift.  Forty-two  were  packed  into  our  sitting-room  yester- 
day, and  we  had  every  room  downstairs  but  the  kitchen 
full  of  students,  and  Fannie  received  her  callers  in  the 
kitchen.  It  really  seems  like  old  times  to  have  a  home 
used  again  in  this  way.  We  are  working  and  praying  that 
the  three  hundred  and  sixty  non-Christian  students  will  be 
led  to  Christ.  We  are  planning  to  start  the  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association  with  the  Doshisha  as  a  center,  mak- 
ing of  these  organizations  Gideon's  Bands,  whose  members 


288  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

pledge  themselves  to  take  as  their  life  aim,  leading  souls 
to  Christ.  We  want  Christians  who  will  each  mean  a 
thousand  souls.  Unless  Christians,  generally,  awaken  and 
work,  they  will  not  keep  pace  with  the  increasing  popula- 
tion of  the  whole  globe." 

Dr.  Davis  considered  that  John  R.  Mott  had  been 
raised  of  God  to  meet  a  special  crisis  in  the  Japanese 
Christian  movement.  Ever  since  the  meeting  of  the  Na- 
tional Committee  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Associa- 
tion, in  1896,  in  which  he  had  seen  Mr.  Mott  fight  for  a 
long  day  for  the  evangelical  basis  of  the  Union,  his  admira- 
tion for  the  man  was  profound.  Of  his  meetings  in  the 
Doshisha,  he  wrote,  in  October,  1901:  "  It  was  an  inspira- 
tion to  see  and  hear  Mr.  Mott  and  to  witness  these  large 
results  in  our  school.  He  preaches  the  old  Gospel,  which  is, 
and  always  has  been,  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation, — 
sin,  repentance,  faith  in  a  divine  Christ  and  His  atonement, 
and  acceptance  of  the  living  Christ  through  the  Holy 
Spirit.  He  speaks  in  clear-cut,  short  sentences,  each  like 
a  hot  shot,  and  his  translator  put  these  sentences  into 
Japanese  in  the  same  way,  so  that  the  result  was  very  ef- 
fective. All  the  Christian  workers  in  the  city  are  organ- 
ized to  look  after  these  enquirers  and  lead  them  into  the 
Christian  life.  I  realize  that  there  can  be  no  more  impor- 
tant work  than  this." 

His  personal  ministries  were  not  confined  to  the  student 
class  of  his  city.  He  kept  up,  for  various  periods,  Bible 
and  English  classes  for  policemen,  city  officials  and  other 
groups  of  citizens,  in  which  he  was  assisted  by  his  wife,  and 
by  these  means  their  circle  of  friends  was  constantly  en- 
larging. Of  one  of  these  groups  he  wrote:  —  "I  have 
promised  to  meet  some  of  the  officials  of  the  city  one  eve- 
ning in  the  week  to  teach  them  English.  Their  object  is  to 
get  English;  mine  is  to  make  friends  of  them  and  try  to 
interest  them  in  Christ." 


PERSONAL  EVANGELISM  289 

Those  who  came  to  him  for  help  represented  nearly  every 
profession.  "  Yesterday,  I  had  no  preaching  in  public,  but 
a  judge  came  in  the  afternoon  to  talk  about  Christianity. .  .  . 
He  says  that  his  duties  show  him  how  very  weak  and  sick 
at  heart  man  is,  and  that  he  needs  super-human  help,  but 
that  he  is  troubled  about  the  miracles  of  Christ.  I  talked 
with  him  an  hour  and  a  half  and  I  never  found  a  man  who 
seemed  more  ready  to  drink  in  the  truth.  I  gave  him  some 
books  and  he  promised  to  come  again.  ...  A  physician 
in  the  city  who  has  practised  medicine  fifteen  years  came 
in  the  other  evening,  saying  that  he  was  so  troubled  about 
his  sins  that  he  could  not  rest.  His  confessions  were  a 
revelation  of  the  immorality  of  such  men.  He  has  come 
three  times  and  we  have  talked  and  prayed  together.  It 
is  good  that  we  have  a  divine  Redeemer  to  whom  we  may 
lead  such  sinful  men." 

Particularly  in  the  early  days,  before  the  country  had 
been  geared  up  to  the  rapidly  moving  machinery  of  western 
life,  it  required  a  fund  of  patience  and  grace  to  deal  with 
the  deliberate  individuals  who  came  to  the  missionary,  pro- 
fessing to  be  enquirers  after  truth,  but  obviously  seeking 
to  satisfy  their  curiosity.  One  eccentric  and  cold-blooded 
scholar  of  Chinese,  famous  among  the  missionary  children 
for  wearing  thirteen  suits  of  clothes  at  the  same  time,  one 
winter  made  frequent  visits  upon  the  Davis  household, 
usually  timing  his  call  to  coincide  with  the  family  supper 
hour.  One  evening  he  was  invited  to  stay  to  supper.  Not 
fancying  the  porridge  and  milk  and  being  compelled  by 
Japanese  etiquette  to  leave  nothing  upon  his  plate,  he 
solved  the  dilemma  by  slipping  the  contents  of  his  por- 
ridge bowl  into  a  capacious  sleeve,  where  it  remained  until 
his  departure  an  hour  later.  In  this  case,  patience  was 
rewarded  by  the  man's  ultimate  conversion. 

Another  man,  an  ex-Shinto  priest,  who  through  a  lengthy 
correspondence  professed  to  be  an  earnest  seeker,  finally 


290  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

made  a  call  upon  Dr.  Davis  with  the  request  that  he  ex- 
plain for  him  the  theory  of  total  abstinence.  After  he  had 
talked  with  the  man  for  some  time  upon  the  value  of  tem- 
perance, his  guest  thanked  him,  took  off  his  outer  garment, 
and  to  Dr.  Davis'  astonishment  requested  him  to  write 
a  statement  of  his  temperance  principles  upon  the  inner 
lining.  The  inside  of  the  robe  was  covered  with  inscrip- 
tions in  several  languages,  representing  the  philosophy  and 
teaching  of  various  sages,  which  the  owner  hoped  to  absorb 
by  wearing  upon  his  back. 

It  was  to  be  expected  that  demands  upon  his  sympathy 
and  financial  resources  would  be  large,  but  to  what  extent 
he  responded  not  even  his  intimate  friends  knew.  Among 
his  files  are  letters  from  individuals  of  every  description, 
seeking  help,  and  thanking  him  for  aid.  Indigent  evange- 
lists, with  large  families  to  support,  sick  students,  ex- 
students  out  of  work,  pastors  unable  to  live  upon  the 
irregular  support  of  their  churches,  and  stranded  American 
sailors  and  "  beach  combers,"  are  among  those  whom  he 
helped.  But  for  every  such  recorded  act,  there  must  have 
been  many  of  which  no  one  ever  knew.  This  ability  to 
respond  was  a  wonder  to  his  friends.  The  secret  is  found 
in  the  self-denials  of  his  thirty-nine  years  in  Japan. 

A  neighbor  says  of  him: — "His  readiness  to  give  was 
often  abused  and  I  imagine  that  the  money  he  lent  to 
needy  students,  which  was  never  returned,  must  have 
amounted  to  a  large  sum.  It  was  hard  for  him  to  refuse 
help,  but  he  did  so  in  one  case.  A  man  came,  one  day, 
asking  for  money  to  help  him  back  to  Nagoya,  where  he 
knew  a  missionary  for  whom  he  had  once  worked.  In 
proof  of  the  statement,  he  produced  a  letter  in  the  Japa- 
nese grass  character  which  Dr.  Davis  could  not  read.  He 
was  about  to  help  him,  when  his  teacher  came  in  and  was 
asked  to  read  the  letter.  He  did  so  and  asked  the  man  if 
his  name  was '  Yes,'  was  the  reply.  '  Well,'  said  the 


PERSONAL  EVANGELISM  291 

teacher,  '  This  letter  says  that  has  just  died  and 

asks  for  a  contribution  for  the  funeral  expenses.'  The  man, 
unabashed,  explained  that  his  friends  had  previously  tried 
to  raise  funds  for  him  in  that  way,  and,  by  mistake,  he  had 
shown  the  wrong  paper.  I  can  almost  hear  Dr.  Davis' 
hearty  laugh  as  he  told  the  story  and  added,  '  That  is  the 
first  time  I  ever  had  a  corpse  ask  me  to  help  bury  it,  but 
I  drew  the  line  there  and  refused  to  give  money  to  a  dead 
man.'  " 

It  was  as  natural  for  him  to  witness  to  his  divine  Lord 
wherever  the  vicissitudes  of  the  work  led  him,  as  when  men 
came  to  his  study  for  special  help.  Sometimes  it  was  the 
jinricksha  runner,  who  toiled  with  him  over  steep  mountain 
passes;  again,  the  woodcutter  carrying  his  blanket  and  char- 
coal on  some  winter  excursion.  The  fellow  passenger  on 
boat  or  train,  or  the  farmer  overtaken  on  the  highway, 
often  heard  from  the  kindly  foreigner  the  story  of  a  new 
hope  and  a  new  power  in  Christ.  In  the  darkest  moments 
of  reaction,  when  it  seemed  to  him  as  if  many  were  losing 
their  grip  upon  the  divine  Christ,  he  would  turn  to  work 
for  such  simple-hearted  souls,  with  a  prayer  of  thanksgiv- 
ing on  his  heart  that  Christ's  power  to  save  was  constant 
and  could  reach  men  of  every  social  and  intellectual  stratum. 
It  proved  his  favorite  theory  that  the  common  man  in 
Japan  could  be  reached  by  the  Gospel. 

One  result  of  his  country  evangelism  was  that  farmers 
from  the  deep  interior,  when  in  Kyoto,  called  to  thank  him 
or  to  ask  for  further  advice  and  help.  In  April,  1887,  he 
wrote: — "I  had  a  call  from  five  or  six  men  and  women 
the  other  day,  from  north  of  Tamba,  about  fifty  miles 
away.  One  of  them  is  a  mother,  who  was  led  to  examine 
Christianity  through  the  conversion  of  her  son,  who  had 
been  a  very  wicked  prodigal.  She  saw  such  a  great  change 
in  him  after  his  conversion  that  she  felt  there  must  be  a 
power  in  Christianity  of  which  she  was  ignorant.  Another 


292  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

of  the  company,  about  fifty  years  old,  had  started  on  the 
pilgrim  circuit  of  the  Island  of  Shikoku,  visiting  all  the 
shrines,  when  she  heard  of  Christianity  and  decided  to  seek 
Christ  instead." 

The  same  letter  told  of  the  baptism  of  the  former 
Daimio  of  Sanda  and  his  entrance  into  the  Kobe  Church. 
It  was  especially  appropriate  that  Dr.  Davis,  who  had  first 
introduced  this  man  to  Christianity,  should  assist  in  receiv- 
ing him  into  the  Church.  This  ex-lord  had  been  a  seeker 
for  fourteen  years,  being  preceded  in  his  acceptance  of 
Christ  by  a  brother  and  other  members  of  his  family. 

"  November  30th,  1890,  Dear  Children:  —  A  student  who 
has  been  here  four  years  and  who,  from  ill  health,  is  now 
compelled  to  leave  school,  probably  never  to  come  back, 
came  to  bid  me,  '  Goodbye.'  He  first  asked  if  I  had  an 
extra  English  Bible  that  he  could  have;  an  old  one  would 
do.  I  told  him  we  had  only  those  we  were  using,  but  I 
gave  him  a  copy  of  Smith's  Bible  Dictionary.  He  was  very 
grateful,  and  told  me  why  he  wanted  one  of  my  books. 
He  said  that  months  ago,  he  had  a  very  vivid  dream. 
He  was  walking  in  the  city  and  saw  a  man  standing  on  a 
large  stone,  with  a  Bible  in  one  hand  and  pointing  with 
the  other  to  heaven.  He  drew  nearer  and  the  man  was 
myself  and  then  as  he  looked,  the  man  was  Christ.  He 
said,  '  Every  time  I  think  of  you,  I  think  of  Christ,  and  I 
want  some  book  you  have  used,  so  that  each  time  I  see  the 
book  I  shall  think  of  you  and  of  Christ.'  This  has  made 
me  feel  very  humble,  because  I  come  so  far  short  of  being 
such  a  pattern,  and  yet  men  must  look  at  us  all  as  patterns 
of  Him,  more  or  less.  If  we  could  only  live  so  that  all  who 
see  us  would  look  from  us  up  to  Christ,  how  blessed  it 
would  be.'1 


CHAPTER  XX 
THE  ALL-AROUND   MISSIONARY 

TO  one  who  believes  in  divine  influence  in  the  lives  of 
men,  there  is  evidence  of  an  economy  of  creation  and 
an  interplay  of  forces  in  the  history  of  individu- 
als as  well  as  of  nations.  The  saying,  "  It  takes  God  a 
thousand  years  to  make  a  man,"  becomes,  upon  analysis, 
one  of  the  most  undeniable  of  truths.  It  was  no  accident 
that  Dr.  Davis  came  from  a  mixture  of  pioneer  and  mili- 
tary stock;  that  the  bark  of  his  boyhood  fortunes  was 
tossed  on  difficult  seas;  that  he  made  an  early  consecra- 
tion of  his  life  to  God;  that  he  took  an  active  part  in  the 
great  American  Conflict  and  that  he  went  as  a  missionary 
to  the  Far  East.  If  the  Kingdom  of  God  was  to  be 
planted  in  modern  Japan  in  competition  with  the  adverse 
influences  of  Western  civilization,  men  of  this  ancestry  and 
calibre  were  needed. 

The  early  missionaries  represented  more  than  the  socie- 
ties that  sent  them  and  more  than  the  churches  and 
colleges  that  had  nurtured  them,  as  they  landed  upon  the 
shores  of  Japan  fifty  years  ago.  These  first  missionaries 
were  ambassadors  of  the  best  traditions  of  the  Anglo-Saxon 
race;  products  of  that  sturdy  spirit  of  Puritanism  that 
willingly  sacrificed  all  for  conscience's  sake  and  had  opened 
a  continent  to  Christian  civilization  and  Anglo-Saxon  cul- 
ture. 

After  two  hundred  and  fifty  years  of  pioneering  in  North 
America,  this  fund  of  energy  and  experience  was  not  to 
be  lost,  but  was  to  be  applied  in  new  fields;  the  gift  of  the 
youthful  West  to  the  ancient,  expectant  East.  Dr.  Davis 
and  his  forefathers  had,  as  pioneers,  helped  to  open  four 

293 


294  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

states  to  the  Union;  he  was  now  to  pioneer  in  an  imperial 
nation.  He  and  his  ancestors  had  taken  part  in  four  wars 
for  his  country;  he  was  now  to  take  part  in  a  yet  greater 
war  for  a  nation  of  which  his  fathers  knew  nothing,  but 
whose  achievements  were  to  stir  the  world  and  whose 
future  influence  in  history  no  man  can  foretell. 

Dr.  Davis  was  endowed  with  a  fund  of  resourcefulness, 
which  went  far  toward  making  him  an  all-around  mission- 
ary. He  was  seldom  caught  in  a  situation  to  which  he 
could  not  adapt  himself  or  turn  to  his  advantage  or  to  that 
of  the  work.  This  trait  was  especially  shown  in  the  early 
years,  and  was  a  source  of  surprise  to  the  Japanese  and  of 
appreciation  to  his  colleagues.  He  came  to  Japan  equipped 
with  the  tools  for  constructing  his  house  and  for  making 
his  own  furniture  and  implements.  His  actual  experience 
in  these  things  was  of  great  value  in  building  his  own 
houses  in  Kyoto  and  in  supervising  the  construction  of 
many  of  the  Doshisha  buildings  and  mission  houses  in  his 
station. 

He  had  an  aptitude  for  building  and  for  getting  satisfac- 
tory results  out  of  the  Japanese  workmen.  He  took  off  his 
coat  and  got  down  into  the  trenches  with  the  masons, 
showed  them  how  to  make  mortar,  superintended  the  dry- 
ing of  the  timber,  climbed  over  the  building  from  cellar  to 
cornice,  watching,  correcting,  detecting  errors  and  short 
measure,  devising  the  solution  of  engineering  difficulties 
and  teaching  labor-saving  devices  of  American  construction. 
More  than  one  of  the  best  builders  in  the  Kyoto  district 
have  attributed  their  start  in  foreign  construction  to  Dr. 
Davis.  In  the  early  years  the  negotiation  for  land  and 
buildings  required  an  inordinate  amount  of  time,  patience 
and  perseverance.  As  he  described  it,  "  In  securing  land 
for  buildings  we  can  do  nothing  directly,  but  have  to  work 
through  the  Japanese,  which  is  much  like  working  on  the 
short  end  of  a  compound  system  of  levers." 


THE  ALL-AROUND  MISSIONARY  295 

The  oriental  propensity  for  not  keeping  to  time  greatly 
tried  his  punctual  nature  and  was  one  of  the  elements  of 
life  in  Japan  which  wore  on  him  unduly.  Eventually,  he 
devised  a  plan  for  holding  contractors  to  their  agreements, 
which  is  in  general  use  today.  A  reasonable  time  limit  was 
fixed  upon,  and  for  every  day  by  which  this  period  was 
shortened  the  contractor  received  a  bonus  of  ten  yen,  while 
for  each  day  by  which  the  work  dragged  beyond  the  time 
limit,  the  contractor  had  to  pay  a  similar  sum  as  a  fine  to 
the  supervising  missionary.  The  first  contractor  who 
entered  into  this  agreement,  not  fully  realizing  that  he 
would  be  rigidly  held  to  the  conditions,  was  badly  caught. 
He  bided  his  time,  however,  and  receiving  the  contract  for 
a  second  building,  pushed  the  work  so  rapidly  that  Dr. 
Davis  was  forced  to  pay  him  a  bonus  of  yen  120.  Dr. 
Davis  was  delighted  at  this  outcome,  which  he  said  "  is 
worth  the  amount  of  the  bonus  many  times  over,  for  that 
is  one  thing  I  am  here  for." 

He  was  often  called  in  for  consultation  about  the  Dosh- 
isha  buildings  and  grounds.  In  the  spring  of  1887,  the 
coolies  who  were  employed  to  stretch  the  band  wire  upon 
the  new  campus  fence  failed  to  put  the  required  energy 
into  the  work.  They  were  dismissed  and  Dr.  Davis  under- 
took the  job.  "  I  stretched  every  strand  of  wire  for  the 
fifteen  hundred  feet  of  fence,  myself.  I  was  pretty  busy 
before  this  and  it  took  all  my  spare  time,  but  a  few  days 
settled  it."  When  the  kerosene  lamps  in  one  of  the  build- 
ings got  out  of  order,  he  took  them  down  and  worked 
over  them  until  they  were  almost  as  good  as  new,  and 
when  the  chimney  in  the  Theological  hall  refused  to  draw, 
he  worked  with  the  men  until  the  defects  were  remedied. 

In  the  middle  of  his  summer  rest,  in  1887,  he  went  down 
from  the  mountain  camp  to  oversee  the  erection  of  the 
American  clock  that  had  arrived  for  the  Recitation  hall 
tower.  "  It  is  a  large  one  with  a  three  hundred  pound 


296  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

striking  weight.  With  two  of  the  best  clock  men  in  the 
city,  I  unpacked  it.  It  was  all  in  pieces  and  no  directions 
with  it.  We  worked  until  sundown  to  get  the  running 
gear  together,  and  I  have  been  at  work  ever  since  putting 
it  up.  We  have  to  get  the  one  hundred  foot  fall  for  the 
striking  weight  by  a  series  of  compound  pulleys.  I  put 
these  pulleys  in  the  top  of  the  tower,  fifty  feet  from  the 
ground,  put  the  clock  works  in  the  second  storey,  the  bell 
in  the  third  storey,  and  the  hands  and  face  in  the  fourth 
storey,  and  have  to  plan  for  all  these  connection  rods  for 
which  the  clock  was  not  originally  built.  Whether  it  will 
run  after  being  put  up  by  a  novice  without  directions  re- 
mains to  be  seen.  I  protested  to  the  station  against  under- 
taking it,  but  they  would  not  let  me  off.  Wednesday, 
September  4th.  Another  full  day  of  thirteen  hours  at  the 
clock.  It  is  all  ready  except  putting  on  the  hands  and 
weights  and  connecting  the  striking  lever  with  the  bell. 
September  18th.  The  clock  is  working  all  right.  I  can 
hear  it  strike  very  plainly  over  here  in  my  study." 

Twenty  years  later,  when  an  old  man,  he  wrote  of  the 
same  clock:  "  The  last  days  have  been  busy  with  the  over- 
sight of  getting  the  new  bell  placed  in  the  clock  tower.  .  .  . 
Raising  the  heavy  bell  up  to  the  third  storey  of  the  tower 
and  hanging  it  was  no  small  job  with  our  appliances.  The 
arrangements  for  the  tolling  lever  were  easy,  but  the  adjust- 
ment of  the  clock  strike  was  very  complicated.  The  new 
bell  is  too  large  to  use  with  the  old  hammer,  so  I  had  to 
make  a  new  one  with  a  bent  bar,  working  on  a  pivot  so 
that  it  would  clear  the  bell.  Three  days  of  hard  work 
got  the  whole  thing  into  running  order." 

Dr.  Davis  believed  in  the  gospel  of  hard  work.  Here 
his  lifelong  example  made  a  vivid  impression  upon  the 
Japanese.  In  the  early  days  of  the  mission,  some  of  his 
colleagues  protested  against  his  appearing  upon  the  streets 
in  his  shirt-sleeves,  wheeling  a  barrow,  or  carrying  tools  in 


THE  ALL-AROUND  MISSIONARY  297 

his  arms  to  the  blacksmith's  shop.  They  believed  that  such 
democratic  conduct  would  give  a  wrong  impression  to  the 
Japanese  of  the  social  status  and  culture  of  the  American 
missionary.  He  compromised  by  putting  on  his  coat  in 
public,  but  never  gave  in  upon  the  principle  of  the  value  of 
the  example  of  labor. 

He  was  public  spirited  and  willing  to  do  his  full  share  for 
advancing  community  interests.  As  the  founder  of  the 
summer  camp  upon  Mt.  Hiei,  he  maintained  a  feeling  of 
solicitude  for  all  who  used  that  retreat.  It  was  his  cus- 
tom each  spring  after  the  frost  was  out  of  the  ground,  to 
climb  the  mountain  with  a  carpenter  and  place  the  water- 
works of  the  camp  in  repair.  Rotted  bamboo  pipes  were 
renewed,  joints  made  secure  and  the  reservoir  cleaned  out. 
Changes  or  extensions  in  camp  sites,  too,  were  negotiated 
by  him.  When  the  Christian  cemetery  needed  attention, 
Dr.  Davis  usually  knew  it  and  saw  that  fences  and  gates 
were  repaired  and  the  graves  properly  cared  for.  Here,  as 
with  the  Doshisha,  he  acted  upon  his  favorite  axiom: 
"  When  you  want  a  thing  done,  do  it  yourself,"  and  relates 
of  repairing  the  cemetery  wall,  "It  is  a  mud  wall  with  a 
tile  roof.  The  tiles  had  fallen  off  in  places  and  the  wall  was 
being  washed  down.  I  drilled  holes  in  one  hundred  and 
sixty  tiles  and  wired  them  on,  working  with  the  drill  for 
five  hours.  It  is  all  fixed  now,  however,  and  ought  to 
stand  for  twenty  years." 

In  the  summer  of  1900,  at  Hakone  Lake,  he  constructed 
a  mill  for  making  graham  flour  from  the  raw  wheat.  After 
describing  how  he  had  turned  miller,  he  says:  —  "Then  I 
bought  some  yellow  Indian  corn  and  pounded  it,  as  the 
Indians  do,  between  two  stones,  and  made  some  '  Samf,' 
which  is  the  nicest  hominy  I  ever  ate."  His  abilities  as  a 
cook  were  proverbial  among  his  intimate  friends  and  he 
was  fond  of  occasionally  getting  into  the  camp  kitchen  and 
turning  out  "  flap  jacks,"  "  sikus  singles,"  and  "  rogues' 


298  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

stews,"  whose  mere  mention  used  to  make  the  children's 
mouths  water  in  anticipation.  Yet  there  never  was  a  man 
who  thought  less  of  what  he  ate,  or  who  was  less  fastidious 
than  he.  His  long  military  training  had  inured  him  to  fru- 
gal living  and  had  made  him  an  advocate  of  "  the  gospel 
of  plain  living  and  high  thinking." 

The  summer  tenting  upon  the  mountain  delighted  the 
old  soldier,  who  was  an  adept  at  camping  out.  To  our 
childish  imagination  he  could  fasten  a  tent  more  securely 
than  any  one  else.  I  well  remember  my  boyish  pride  on 
finding,  the  morning  after  a  great  typhoon,  that  my  father's 
tents  were  the  only  ones  of  the  encampment  that  had  not 
suffered  serious  damage,  and  my  respect  for  his  mechanical 
genius  on  seeing  him  construct  a  rude  triangulating  outfit 
by  which  he  estimated  the  height  of  neighboring  summits 
in  the  mountains. 

His  was  a  varied  and  multiple  activity  through  the  first 
twenty  years  of  the  Doshisha's  life.  In  addition  to  his 
regular  schedule  of  teaching  and  evangelistic  work,  he  bore 
an  increasing  load  of  allied  and  divergent  responsibilities. 
Committees  relating  to  the  school,  to  evangelistic  work 
and  church  and  mission  development,  found  him  a  willing 
member.  In  1900  we  find  this  note:  "  I  can  sympathize 
with  Lowell,  who,  when  in  London,  wrote:  — '  I  am  piece- 
mealed  here  with  so  many  things  to  do  that  I  cannot  get  a 
moment  to  brood  over  anything  as  it  must  be  brooded  over 
if  it  is  to  have  wings.  It  is  as  if  a  setting  hen  should  have 
to  mind  the  doorbell.''  The  next  year: — "I  am  on  so 
many  committees  that  some  weeks  I  have  a  committee 
meeting  every  day." 

The  years  that  he  was  at  the  head  of  the  Theological 
school,  the  consultation  and  correspondence  with  students 
fell  to  him,  while  during  the  long  period  when  the  Dosh- 
isha  question  was  under  discussion,  the  vital  issues  involved, 
which  interested  not  only  Doshisha  students  and  graduates, 


THE  ALL-AROUND  MISSIONARY  299 

but  the  whole  Kumi-ai  body,  as  well  as  other  missions  and 
churches,  brought  a  steady  stream  of  inquiry  to  his  door. 
In  May,  1899,  he  wrote:  —  "I  was  to  be  at  Hikone  last 
Sabbath  to  preach,  but  my  back  was  so  lame  that  I  decided 
to  rest.  The  trouble  is  that  I  have  not  had  enough  exer- 
cise the  last  three  months,  and  too  much  strain  of  consulta- 
tion, sometimes  as  high  as  eight  hours  a  day,  upon  this 
one,  old,  sore  subject,  the  Doshisha." 

In  addition  to  his  regular  preaching,  there  were  frequent 
calls  for  public  addresses.  Though  some  of  his  closest 
colleagues  insisted  to  the  contrary,  he  was  not  generally 
considered  an  eloquent  speaker.  Dr.  D.  L.  Learned,  in 
speaking  of  his  use  of  Japanese,  said:  —  "  It  was  always  a 
wonder  to  me  that  he  could  do  so  much  in  the  language 
without  a  more  perfect  command  of  it,  but  he  seemed  to  be  a 
master  of  Japanese  in  the  sense  of  making  it  do  what  he 
pleased.  When  he  was  prepared  (too  often  he  had  to 
speak  without  time  for  preparation),  or  when  he  was  deeply 
moved,  he  seemed  to  me  one  of  the  very  strongest  speakers 
in  the  mission."  His  Japanese  vocabulary  was  compara- 
tively limited,  and  would  not  have  passed  the  modern  tests 
of  proficiency.  However,  he  made  a  surprisingly  effective 
use  of  the  vocabulary  at  his  command,  and  if  measured  by 
the  results  effected,  he  must  be  rated  an  efficient  speaker. 
His  style  was  marked  by  intense  earnestness,  simplicity 
and  clarity  of  thought  and  a  lighting  up  of  the  whole  per- 
sonality with  an  animation  and  fire  which  compelled  atten- 
tion and  seldom  failed  to  carry  his  audience. 

He  was  much  in  demand  for  commencement  addresses, 
for  the  dedication  of  churches,  the  ordination  of  pastors 
and  for  summer  schools  and  conventions.  One  address  for 
which  he  was  famous  among  the  Japanese  and  which  he 
never  tired  of  giving  was  his  "  War  Talk,"  in  which  he 
related,  in  his  vivid  way,  some  of  the  most  characteristic 
experiences  of  the  Civil  War.  In  many  cases  it  was  used 


300  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

as  the  entering  wedge  for  evangelistic  appeal,  when  he  would 
press  home  the  claims  of  loyalty  to  duty  and  high  ideals 
in  the  face  of  difficulties.  The  reason  for  these  public  de- 
mands upon  him  are  apparent  in  the  breadth  of  his  inter- 
ests, the  depth  of  his  sympathies,  the  strength  of  his  friend- 
ships and  the  faithfulness  and  sincerity  of  his  services. 

One  characteristic  that  gave  Dr.  Davis  much  pleasure 
was  his  ability  to  attract  young  men.  His  appeal  to  the 
imagination  and  heart  of  the  young  was  not  limited  to  the 
period  when  as  an  impetuous  and  "  knightly  leader,"  he 
charmed  the  Kumamoto  Band;  it  remained  to  the  very  end 
of  his  life.  Young  men  of  various  classes  and  nationalities 
came  freely  to  his  study  for  consultation  and  sympathy. 
Frequent  demands  from  many  parts  of  the  country  were 
made  upon  him  for  addresses  to  young  people,  until  he  was 
full  threescore  years  and  ten.  He  was  essentially  a  man's 
man,  direct,  rugged,  natural  and  absolutely  fearless  of 
everything  but  shame  and  dishonesty.  He  glowed  with 
youthful  enthusiasms  and  mighty  convictions;  he  poured 
out  the  sympathy  of  his  big  heart  to  those  who  sought  him; 
he  was  built  upon  a  large  pattern,  with  honor,  generosity 
and  genuineness  deep  graven  upon  his  personality. 

Upon  his  last  return  to  Japan,  in  1906,  contrary  to  his 
expectations,  he  was  more  than  ever  in  demand  for  work 
for  young  men.  "  More  calls  for  work  come  than  I  dare 
accept,"  he  wrote  soon  after  his  return;  "  I  am  asked  to 
preach  the  Baccalaureate  sermon  for  the  graduation  of  all 
departments  of  the  Doshisha  and  at  the  Communion  serv- 
ice. I  have  had  to  decline  to  go  to  Tamba  that  same 
Sabbath.  Mr.  Osada  has  asked  me  to  make  the  graduating 
address  at  the  Osaka  Girls'  School,  the  same  week.  To- 
night, Mr.  Niwa  asked  me  to  preach  in  the  Doshisha  next 
Sabbath,  but  as  I  am  to  speak  in  the  Airin  Church  that 
evening  and  have  to  meet  the  University  and  Higher 
Middle  School  students  in  the  afternoon,  I  have  declined 


THE  ALL-AROUND  MISSIONARY  301 

to  do  more.  The  trouble  is  that  such  work  is  sprung  on 
one  with  little  or  no  time  for  preparation.  One  is  expected 
to  have  everything  that  is  wanted  '  right  on  tap.*  " 

Dr.  Davis  was  for  many  years  chairman  of  the  Board  of 
Directors  of  Kobe  College,  and  from  its  beginning  had 
furthered  its  growth  in  every  possible  way.  In  1903,  he 
referred  to  this  school  as  the  best  piece  of  work  that  the 
mission  had  accomplished  in  its  thirty- three  years  in  Japan. 
He  was  one  of  the  first,  also,  to  advocate  the  opening  of 
the  Hospital  and  Training  School  for  Nurses  which  was 
organized  in  connection  with  the  Dpshisha,  and  he  served 
as  a  consulting  member  upon  its  board. 

He  believed  that  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association 
had  been  called  to  render  a  unique  service  for  the  empire. 
For  years  he  served  on  the  committee  of  the  National 
Y.  M.  C.  A.  Union,  and  he  took  the  liveliest  interest 
in  the  development  of  the  association  in  mission  and  gov- 
ernment schools  and  in  its  spread  to  the  city  work.  He 
early  saw  the  need  of  a  city  association  building  in  Kyoto, 
as  a  common  center  for  united  Christian  effort  and  as  a 
direct  means  of  reaching  the  city  people.  He  suggested  to 
Mr.  Mott  the  sending  of  a  foreign  secretary  to  take  charge  of 
the  Kyoto  work,  organized  the  petition  from  the  pastors, 
missionaries  and  leading  laymen  in  Kyoto  for  such  a  secre- 
tary, and,  finally,  upon  his  arrival  welcomed  him  so  warmly 
and  gave  so  much  time  in  planning  for  the  new  work  that 
an  unusual  bond  was  established  between  the  two  men. 
From  its  organization  until  his  death,  he  continued  a  direc- 
tor of  the  Kyoto  City  Association,  and  was  never  too  busy 
to  attend  its  meetings  or  to  throw  himself  into  its  varied 
problems  and  activities. 

Mr.  Mott  relied  upon  the  judgment  of  Dr.  Davis  in  the 
problems  of  the  National  work.  At  the  historic  Tokyo  con- 
ference in  1897,  in  which  the  evangelical  basis  of  the  Japa- 
nese movement  was  seriously  threatened,  Dr.  Davis  was 


302  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

present,  and  though  he  took  no  part  in  the  discussion, 
prayed  most  earnestly  through  the  long  hours  of  discussion. 
His  influence  was  pregnant  with  power  that  day  to  save 
the  movement  to  evangelical  Christianity.  Many  times  he 
endured  serious  discomforts  in  order  to  attend  meetings  of 
the  National  Committee,  not  infrequently  making  the  three 
hundred  mile  journey  to  the  North  primarily  on  that 
account.  One  member  of  the  committee  has  said: — "I 
remember  how  one  summer  the  meeting  was  held  at  Hay- 
ama,  with  the  thermometer  nearing  100°,  muggy  and  sultry. 
We  had  poor  Japanese  food,  fleas  abounded,  and  the  whole 
surroundings  were  depressing,  especially  to  a  foreigner,  but 
Dr.  Davis  never  uttered  a  complaint.  His  attitude  at  these 
committee  meetings  was  strikingly  reserved;  he  rarely 
spoke  unless  his  opinion  was  asked,  or  unless  some  vital 
principle  was  at  stake.  He  always  demurred  against  taking 
a  prominent  part,  believing  that  some  younger  or,  as  he 
thought,  some  abler  man,  should  be  called  upon,  but 
when  he  did  speak  it  was  with  trumpet-toned  convic- 
tion." 

With  much  the  same  spirit  that  he  showed  toward  the 
Young  Men's  Christian  Association  he  welcomed  the  Sal- 
vation Army,  and  frequently  expressed  his  confidence  in 
the  large  work  awaiting  it  in  Japan.  The  officers  of  the 
Army,  when  working  in  Kyoto  or  passing  through  the  city, 
were  welcome  guests  in  his  home.  Colonel  Gumpei  Yama- 
muro,  of  the  Salvation  Army,  describes  the  part  that  Dr. 
Davis  took  in  his  decision  for  life-work:  "  When  I  left  the 
Imabara  Church  as  a  helper,  I  decided  to  devote  myself  to 
the  evangelization  of  the  common  people,  and  went  to 
Kyoto  and  asked  Dr.  Davis'  advice  about  entering  the 
Salvation  Army.  He  said :  '  A  man  led  by  the  Spirit  of 
God  can  succeed  in  the  Salvation  Army  or  anywhere  else; 
the  place  where  one  works  is  not  so  important  as  the  spirit 
with  which  one  works.'  He  greatly  honored  the  Salvation 


THE  ALL-AROUND  MISSIONARY  303 

Army.  Soon  after  I  went  to  Tokyo  and  enlisted  in  the 
Army." 

Through  his  friend  and  early  colleague,  Rev.  O.  H. 
Gulick,  of  Honolulu,  he  kept  in  close  touch  with  the  spiri- 
tual needs  of  the  Japanese  population  in  Hawaii,  and  for 
four  years,  from  1900  to  1903,  he  acted  as  consulting  secre- 
tary for  the  Hawaiian  Mission  Board,  finding  Japanese 
pastors  for  its  work  and  sending  them  to  the  field. 

During  the  summer  of  1887,  the  Spanish  Government 
took  possession  of  the  Caroline  Islands  and  arbitrarily 
arrested  Rev.  E.  T.  Doane,  a  missionary  of  the  American 
Board,  whose  well  established  work  on  the  Island  of  Ponape 
had  excited  the  envy  of  the  Spanish  priests.  Mr.  Doane, 
who  was  a  brother-in-law  of  Dr.  Davis,  was  sent  in  irons  to 
Manila.  On  receipt  of  the  news,  Dr.  Davis  immediately 
made  preparations  for  going  to  Manila  to  help  Mr.  Doane. 
On  the  way  down  the  mountain,  he  was  met  with  a  tele- 
gram, stating  that  Mr.  Doane  had  been  released  and  was 
being  sent  back  to  Ponape,  honorably  acquitted  by  the 
Spanish  Government. 

Dr.  Davis  had  grave  anxieties  for  the  safety  of  the 
American  Board's  work  in  Micronesia  and  wrote  to  United 
States  Minister  Hubbard  and  to  Rear  Admiral  Chandler 
of  the  American  squadron,  at  that  time  in  Japanese  waters, 
calling  their  attention  to  the  danger  confronting  American 
interests  in  the  Caroline  Islands,  and  urging  that  a  war- 
ship be  at  once  despatched  to  the  scene  of  disturbance. 
Since  the  natives  had  risen  against  the  tyranny  of  their  new 
rulers  and  had  wiped  out  the  Spanish  garrison  stationed  on 
Ponape,  there  was  danger  of  bloody  reprisals  and  the  con- 
fiscation of  mission  property  and  the  breaking  up  of  that 
work.  Through  this  prompt  action,  the  U.  S.  S.  "  Essex" 
was  sent  to  Ponape  and  arrived  in  time  to  prevent  serious 
disaster  in  the  islands. 

The  adoption  of    the  Red  Cross  by  Japan  in  1886  was 


304  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

noted  with  the  liveliest  interest  by  Dr.  Davis.  He  was 
an  admirer  of  the  founder  of  the  organization,  Miss  Clara 
Barton,  and  had  watched  with  satisfaction  the  growth  of 
the  Red  Cross  movement  since  the  close  of  the  Civil  War. 
He  deprecated  the  tardy  adoption  of  the  International  Red 
Cross  Treaty  by  the  United  States  and  the  failure  of  Con- 
gress to  protect  the  insignia  of  the  society.  When  in 
Washington,  in  the  summer  of  1894,  he  called  upon  Miss 
Barton  to  express  his  appreciation  of  her  work  and  to 
study  the  organization  of  the  movement.  At  this  time  a 
bill,  providing  government  protection  for  the  insignia  of  the 
Red  Cross,  was  pending  congressional  action  and,  at  Miss 
Barton's  request,  Dr.  Davis  wrote  an  article  on  its  behalf 
in  "  The  Independent  "  of  February  14th,  1895.  The  Red 
Cross  Society  printed  and  distributed  five  thousand  copies  of 
the  article  among  congressmen,  senators,  politicians  and 
publicists  throughout  the  country.  This  plea  for  the  recog- 
nition of  the  Red  Cross  is  among  the  strongest  products 
of  Dr.  Davis'  pen.  It  not  only  won  Miss  Barton's  grati- 
tude for  a  service  which  she  characterized  as  "  entirely 
priceless  to  the  Red  Cross  cause,"  but  contributed  to  the 
passing  of  a  later  measure  which  gave  full  recognition  and 
protection  to  the  Red  Cross  Society,  in  the  United  States. 

No  summary  of  Dr.  Davis'  work  as  a  missionary  would 
be  complete  without  mention  of  the  literary  activity  with 
which  he  was  occupied,  whenever  the  press  of  school  and 
outside  work  allowed.  It  was  mostly  accomplished  in  con- 
nection with  his  teaching,  growing  out  of  his  class-room 
work  or  supplementing  his  evangelistic  activity.  His  friends 
often  remarked  on  the  fact  that  a  man  of  his  active  tem- 
perament had  the  patience  and  found  the  time  to  write  to 
the  extent  that  he  did.  The  "  Mission  News  "  of  Decem- 
ber 15th,  1910,  says  of  him: — "He  was  a  prolific  writer 
and  his  literary  activity  during  the  past  decade  was  notice- 
able. No  other  member  of  the  mission  has  written  as 


THE  ALL-AROUND  MISSIONARY  305 

many  books,  tracts,  and  articles  calculated  to  exert  a  direct 
evangelistic  influence,  and  no  one,  except  Dr.  Learned,  be- 
longs in  the  same  productive  class.  ...  As  an  author  he 
exerted  a  powerful  influence." 

The  first  evangelistic  tract  published  by  the  mission  and 
the  first  original  tract  appearing  in  Japan,  the  "  Chika 
Michi,"  or  "  The  short  way  of  knowing  the  true  God," 
came  from  his  pen  during  his  third  year  in  Japan.  It  has 
had  a  remarkably  wide  circulation,  and  from  its  simplicity, 
directness  and  sympathy  has  accomplished  a  valuable  work. 
We  are  told  by  the  publisher  that  more  than  a  million 
copies  of  this  tract  have  been  published.  This  was  the 
first  output  of  the  "  Fukuinsha," l  which  later  became  the 
"Keiseisha." 1  A  simple  hymn-book  written  in  the  "Kana" 2 
was  also  a  product  of  those  earliest  days. 

During  the  next  five  years  he  prepared  a  number  of 
tracts  and  hand-books  to  meet  the  immediate  exigencies  of 
the  growing  churches:  "A  Brief  Introduction  to  Christian- 
ity," "  The  Need,  Object  and  the  Right  Use  of  the  Sab- 
bath," "  A  Brief  Natural  Theology,"  "  Proofs  of  the  Authen- 
ticity, Credibility,  and  Divine  Authority  of  the  Bible," 
"  Commentary  on  Matthew  in  the  Colloquial,"  "  A  Short 
Sketch  of  Church  History,"  "  An  Abridgment  of  Cushing's 
Manual  of  Parliamentary  Rules,"  and  "  A  Handbook  on 
Church  Organization  and  Activities  and  Discipline."  From 
his  connection  with  the  Doshisha  began  a  series  of  books  and 
essays  that  terminated  only  with  his  death.  His  earlier  books 
were  summaries  of  his  lectures  in  the  Theological  School. 
Thus  between  1885  and  1890  appeared  his  "  Christian 
Evidences,"  "  Commentary  on  Matthew  and  Luke," 
"  Natural  Theology,"  and  "  Introduction  to  Theology."  His 
largest  work  in  Japanese,  "  The  Great  Principles  of  Theol- 
ogy," a  volume  of  1,070  pages,  appeared  in  1893,  just  as 

1  See  page  133. 

2  "  Syllabary  used  by  the  common  people.!' 


306  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

the  reaction  which  discounted  theology  was  starting.  Dr. 
Davis  did  not  expect  that  the  edition  of  five  hundred 
volumes  published  by  the  mission  would  ever  be  sold. 
One  of  the  cheering  evidences  of  the  return  to  fundamentals 
of  faith  was  the  request  of  the  Keiseisha  in  1906  for  a 
second  edition  of  this  work. 

"A  Systematic  Theology"  appeared  in  1889,  "A  Life 
of  Neesima"  in  1890,  and  these  were  followed  in  rapid  suc- 
cession by  "  An  Outline  History  of  Christian  Doctrine," 
"  An  Outline  Study  of  Ethics,"  "  Moral  Education," 
"  Progress  of  Thought  in  Theology,"  etc.  To  meet  the  per- 
sonal problems  and  difficulties  of  his  students  was  a  practi- 
cal aim  of  his  writings.  These  took  the  form  of  booklets 
of  from  fifty  to  one  hundred  pages,  and  dealt  with  such  sub- 
jects as  "The  What  and  the  Why  of  My  Faith,"  "Char- 
acter Building,"  "  The  Existence  of  the  Soul,"  "  Moral 
Education,"  "  Christ  and  Other  Masters,"  "  The  Personality 
of  God."  He  discussed,  also,  the  controverted  theological 
questions  of  the  time:  "  The  Authorship  of  the  Fourth 
Gospel,"  "The  Pentateuchal  Question,"  "God  Working 
Through  Evolution,"  "  The  Existence  of  the  Soul,"  "  New 
Theories  of  Evolution."  Another  group  of  writings  was 
devotional  and  inspirational  in  character:  "  Christ's  Great 
Promises,"  "  Spiritual  Power  of  the  Christian,"  "  The  All- 
Conquering  Power  of  the  Christian,"  "  Spiritual  Movements 
of  Christianity,"  "  Effective  Evangelism,"  and  "  Revivals." 

With  Dr.  Davis,  to  have  a  deep  conviction  was  to  desire 
that  others  should  share  it  with  him,  and  this  desire  often 
found  an  outlet  in  action.  He  frequently  published  his  con- 
victions, whether  relating  to  Theology,  the  condition  of  the 
Japanese  church,  the  dangers  of  a  crippling  financial  policy, 
or  the  situation  in  the  Doshisha.  During  the  earlier  years 
of  rapid  growth  in  the  school  and  general  work,  whatever  he 
wrote  was  readily  accepted  by  the  denominational  papers 
in  the  United  States,  and  had  its  share  of  influence  upon 


THE  ALL-AROUND  MISSIONARY  307 

the  constituency  of  the  American  Board.  With  the  tide 
of  reaction,  however,  his  estimates  of  the  spiritual  and 
theological  trend  failed  to  please  the  home  constituency 
and  his  writings  were  less  frequently  seen.  Most  men 
under  these  circumstances  would  have  considered  that  with 
the  closing  of  the  press  to  their  convictions,  their  case  was 
hopeless;  not  so  with  Dr.  Davis.  Time  and  again,  when 
the  "  Congregationalist,"  or  "  Advance,"  or  "  Independent" 
sent  back  his  articles,  he  published  them  himself,  in  the 
form  of  open  letters,  and  sent  them  to  hundreds  of  the 
leading  men  of  his  denomination  in  the  United  States. 
The  clarion  tones  of  his  open  letter  to  the  Congregational 
Churches  of  America,  in  the  face  of  imminent  action  look- 
ing toward  the  gradual  closing  of  the  work  of  the  Japan 
Mission,  helped  to  correct  the  impression  that  the  work  of 
the  missionary  was  at  an  end  in  Japan.  It  was  a  joy  to 
him  to  live  to  see  the  day  when  his  position  upon  this  vital 
question  was  vindicated  and  he  saw  the  Church  and  the 
Board  rally  to  the  support  of  their  work  in  Japan. 

The  literary  work  for  which  Dr.  Davis  will  be  remem- 
bered is  the  biography  of  his  friend  and  colleague,  Dr. 
Joseph  Hardy  Neesima.  Out  of  deference  to  Mr.  Hardy, 
Dr.  Neesima's  early  benefactor,  who  was  preparing  a  similar 
sketch,  he  at  first  limited  himself  to  a  Japanese  edition.  It 
was  not  long,  however,  before  doubts  regarding  the  spiri- 
tuality and  greatness  of  the  Japanese  leader  became  mani- 
fest, and  this  led  him  to  publish  an  English  edition  in 
Japan,  thoroughly  vindicating  his  friend.  To  this  is  due 
the  spiritual  interpretation  of  the  book,  with  the  intimate 
picture  of  Neesima's  inner  life  and  struggles  which  it  con- 
tains. In  the  second  edition  of  the  Japanese  biography,  he 
aimed  to  correct  certain  current  misapprehensions  regard- 
ing Christianity  and  Christian  education.  The  "  Life  of 
Neesima"  has  been  revised  twice  in  the  English  edition,  has 
been  translated  into  several  European  and  Oriental  Ian- 


308  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

guages  and  is  widely  used  as  a  text-book  for  mission  study. 
More  than  one  Japanese  boy  has  entered  the  Doshisha 
through  reading  the  life  of  this  modern  national  hero. 

It  was  Dr.  Davis'  custom  to  send  one  of  his  books,  as  a 
Christmas  remembrance,  to  each  of  his  former  pupils  and 
to  many  of  his  friends.  By  this  method  he  kept  personal 
relationships  warm  and  in  no  small  degree  influenced  the 
thought  and  Christian  experience  of  the  Church.  In  trying 
to  stem  the  current  of  radicalism  and  loose  thinking  in  the 
religious  world  of  Japan,  he  sent  out  appeals  for  loyalty 
to  the  fundamentals  of  religious  belief,  to  large  numbers  of 
workers  of  all  denominations.  In  certain  quarters,  these 
efforts  doubtless  failed  to  accomplish  their  purpose,  but  not  a 
few  missionaries  and  pastors  of  other  churches  state  that  he 
exerted  a  real  influence  in  holding  men  during  a  period 
when  religious  convictions  were  wavering  in  Japan. 

Regarding  the  more  than  fifty  books  and  pamphlets  that 
Dr.  Davis  published,  he  wrote:  —  "I  have  never  written 
anything  for  money  or  for  fame,  and  my  Japanese  books, 
poorly  prepared  by  a  foreigner,  bring  me  disgrace  rather 
than  fame.  What  I  have  written  has  been  from  an  inner 
impulse  to  express  my  convictions  of  truth  and,  especially, 
spiritual  truth.  My  prayer  is,  that  God  will  use  the  weak 
things  as  his  instruments  to  do  his  work.  I  suppose  that  I 
ought  to  be  ashamed  that  I  have  attempted  so  much  and 
have  not,  rather,  done  less,  better.  I  have  been  a  kind 
of  '  John  the  Baptist,'  preparing  the  way,  and  I  am  thank- 
ful that  a  great  number  of  better  writers,  foreign  and 
Japanese,  are  now  ready  to  carry  on  the  work." 

As  in  his  speaking,  so  in  his  writing,  the  work  was  done 
in  the  midst  of  continual  interruptions.  Never,  save  in 
the  summer  weeks  of  rest  upon  Mt.  Hiei,  did  he  have  con- 
secutive periods  for  his  literary  work.  No  one  was  more 
conscious  of  this  lack  than  he,  but  it  was  a  condition  over 
which  he  had  no  control,  and,  as  such,  he  refused  to  let  it 


THE  ALL-AROUND  MISSIONARY  309 

hinder  him  from  what  he  felt  impelled  to  attempt.  He 
wrote  to  meet  special  crises,  immediate  situations,  and  that 
which  his  pen  lacked  in  literary  style  and  elegance  of  dic- 
tion, it  made  up  in  a  promptitude,  force  and  simplicity  of 
expression  that  usually  commanded  attention. 


CHAPTER  XXI 
RELATIONSHIPS 

IT  is  in  the  realm  of  personal  relationships  that  we  find 
some  of  the  largest  sources  of  Dr.  Davis'  influence  and 
success  as  a  missionary.     No  historical  treatment  of  his 
life    would    be    complete    unless    supplemented    by    a    brief 
glimpse  into  the  hearts  of  those  friends  who  were  in  a  posi- 
tion to  know  him  as  a  man  and  a  fellow  missionary. 

From  the  first,  he  identified  himself  with  Japan  and  with 
the  Japanese.  He  met  the  final  test  of  the  missionary  in 
his  ability  to  thoroughly  respect  and  deeply  love  the  people. 
He  frequently  alluded  to  Japan  as  his  adopted  country,  and 
his  appreciation  of  the  admirable  qualities  of  the  nation 
and  his  belief  in  her  great  destiny  were  very  strong.  His 
affection  for  the  people  was  of  such  a  transparent  kind 
as  to  be  a  source  of  comment  with  the  Japanese.  Rev.  K. 
Miyagawa,  of  Osaka,  in  speaking  of  this  attitude,  says: 
"  The  way  he  loved  the  Japanese  was  above  our  under- 
standing. It  seemed,  at  times,  as  if  he  loved  the  nation 
more  than  we  ourselves  did.  It  is  the  influence  of  that 
love  and  self-sacrifice  that  caused  me  to  devote  my  life 
to  evangelistic  work." 

Mr.  K.  Tomeoka,  of  the  Home  Reform  School,  of  Tokyo, 
said:  "  Dr.  Davis  knew  and  loved  the  Japanese  deeply,  and 
on  this  account  I  never  felt  when  with  him  that  he  was  a 
foreigner."  He  did  not  have  to  tell  the  Japanese  that  he 
loved  them  nor  praise  them  with  constant  flattery.  On 
the  contrary,  he  seldom  used  praise,  preferring  to  inflict  the 
wounds  of  a  faithful  friend.  This  brave  candor,  instead  of 
repelling,  drew  men  to  him,  convinced  of  his  love  and  hon- 
esty. A  prominent  Japanese  wrote  of  him:  "  His  was  a 

310 


RELATIONSHIPS  311 

clean-cut,  transparent  character,  just  as  a  bamboo  splits 
evenly  into  two  beautiful  straight  pieces.  He  adapted  him- 
self to  his  surroundings  and,  comparatively  early,  understood 
the  heart  of  Japan.  This  was  because  he  felt  as  a  Japa- 
nese. He  well  knew  the  spirit  of  the  age  and  his  addresses 
and  books,  though  conservative,  were  well  adapted  to  meet 
its  needs." 

That  his  sympathy  should  reach  beyond  the  circle  of 
ordinary  relationships  seemed  strange  to  his  Japanese  friends. 
Ex-President  Shimomura,  of  the  Doshisha,  relates,  "  Though 
I  changed  my  field  of  work  and  entered  business,  he  always 
loved  me  in  spite  of  it.  When  I  failed  in  a  certain  enter- 
prise and  everything  looked  dark,  Drs.  Davis  and  Gordon 
were  the  only  people  who  came  to  condole  with  me. 
Strange  that  the  only  sympathizers  in  failure  should  have 
been  foreigners." 

He  appealed  to  the  national  sense  of  hero  worship.  In 
the  natural  gifts  with  which  he  had  been  endowed,  the 
Japanese  found  evidence  of  the  spirit  of  "  Yamato  Dama- 
shii,"  or  the  true  samurai,  to  whom  they  liked  to  compare 
him.  His  military  bearing  and  fearless  spirit  opened  early 
doors  of  opportunity  and  continued  to  be  a  source  of  charm 
to  the  Japanese.  One  student  in  speaking  of  this  quality 
said:  "Even  though  you  were  to  say,  'Japanese  Hero,' 
Davis  san  is  a  hero." 

Dr.  Davis'  affection  for  the  land  and  the  people  did  not 
betray  him  into  the  mistake  of  shutting  his  eyes  to  their 
faults  and  inconsistencies.  "  May  30th,  1900.  The  Dosh- 
isha Constitution  is  at  last  accepted  by  the  Department  of 
Education.  They  refused  to  accept  it  until  the  school  was 
reorganized,  and  they  refused  to  allow  the  school  to  be 
reorganized  until  it  had  completed  the  school  year  last 
March.  Then  after  a  year  of  waiting,  the  term  of  service 
of  two  of  the  trustees  who  signed  the  Constitution  when  it 
was  adopted  had  expired,  and  one  other  was  elected.  Now, 


312  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

when  we  applied  the  other  day,  for  registration  of  the 
Constitution  here  in  the  Kyoto  Fu,  they  object  because  of 
these  changes  in  the  personnel  of  the  trustees.  This  is 
an  example  of  how  lower  officials  in  Japan  are  apt  to  act 
like  children  just  to  show  their  importance.  I  suppose 
the  matter  will  be  arranged  in  some  way,  but  it  shows 
that  this  people  need  the  Gospel  of  Christ  to  lift  them  up 
above  such  pettiness." 

He  never  acted  surprised  or  disgusted  at  signs  of  weak- 
ness, but  used  to  remark  frequently  that  it  was  because  of 
such  things  that  he  was  in  Japan.  He  saw  the  faults  of 
the  people  but  not  with  a  critical  eye.  As  one  who  knew 
him  well  said,  "  He  recognized  that  some  Japanese  are  bad 
and  untrustworthy,  just  as  many  are  good  and  great," 
He  detected  meanness  and  sham  under  the  guise  of  polite- 
ness and  despised  it,  but  never  condemned  the  nation  as  a 
whole  for  the  faults  of  individuals  or  of  certain  classes. 
He  believed,  profoundly,  in  the  inherent  sturdiness  of 
character  of  the  common  people  and  the  farming  class  of 
Japan,  and  that  here  might  be  found  sources  of  future 
national  power  and  integrity. 

He  saw,  however,  the  necessity  of  standing  uncompro- 
misingly for  certain  principles  of  probity,  and  he  loved  the 
Japanese  so  genuinely  that  he  was  willing  to  oppose  and 
offend  them  to  the  extent  of  incurring  bitter  opposition 
and  unpopularity  for  the  sake  of  these  principles.  He 
loved  Japan  and  the  Japanese  for  what  they  were,  but  it 
was  the  potential  Japan,  from  the  standpoint  of  the  power 
of  Christ,  that  aroused  his  passionate  devotion. 

His  experiences  with  the  Doshisha  did  not  embitter  or 
prejudice  him.  He  heartily  endorsed  the  selection  of  Rev. 
T.  Harada  as  president,  in  1905,  although  he  had  been  a 
member  of  the  old  board  of  trustees,  and  he  supported 
him  most  loyally  in  his  representations  to  the  American 
Board,  repeatedly  stating  his  complete  confidence  in  him 


RELATIONSHIPS  313 

and  in  his  plans  for  the  school.  He  said:  "  We  have  every- 
thing to  gain,  from  this  time  forward,  in  taking  the  Japa- 
nese into  our  fullest  confidence  and  conference." 

In  every  possible  manner,  he  obliterated  national  dis- 
tinctions and  interpreted  the  motives  of  his  Japanese  asso- 
ciates generously.  Rev.  M.  R.  Gaines  in  speaking  of  this 
trait  says:  "In  those  days  (1886)  the  twenty-five  members 
of  the  faculty  were  about  equally  divided  between  Japanese 
and  foreigners.  In  faculty  meetings,  if  from  the  trend  of 
discussion  it  was  evident  that  a  vote  would  result  in  a 
division  along  nationalistic  lines,  Dr.  Davis  was  sure  to  hit 
upon  some  way  to  postpone  a  vote  until  opportunity  for 
more  light  was  given  on  the  subject.  He  dreaded  schism  as 
much  as  the  coming  of  cholera." 

That  his  affection  and  admiration  for  the  Japanese  were 
reciprocated  in  kind,  there  is  abundant  evidence.  We  have 
seen  how  Dr.  Neesima  relied  upon  him  for  support  and  in- 
spiration. Dr.  Neesima  was  fond  of  telling  of  a  call  upon 
the  President  of  Beloit  College,  in  which  he  asked  why  the 
American  churches  did  not  send  more  men  like  Dr.  Davis 
to  Japan.  "  President  Chapin,  in  a  small  voice,  replied, 
'  To  tell  the  truth,  such  men  as  Dr.  Davis  are  not  plentiful 
in  the  United  States.'  "  Of  the  friendship  between  Dr. 
Neesima  and  his  missionary  friend,  Professor  T.  Murata 
of  the  Tokyo  Women's  University  says:  "  The  relationship 
between  them  was  beautiful,  deep  and  warm,  and  rare  be- 
tween Japanese  and  foreigners.  Death  could  not  change  it. 
As  the  translator  of  Dr.  Davis'  '  Life  of  Neesima,'  I  under- 
stood the  labor  that  he  put  upon  that  book.  With  great 
pains  he  thus  introduced  Dr.  Neesima  to  the  world."  Dr. 
Dwight  L.  Learned,  whose  thirty-four  years  of  close  asso- 
ciation in  the  Doshisha  enabled  him  to  know  Dr.  Davis  as 
possibly  no  other  colleague,  says:  "  We  have  had  not  a  few 
strong  men  on  the  roll  of  our  mission,  but  no  other,  I  think, 
who  was  so  widely  and  deeply  loved  by  the  Japanese,  and 


314  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

no  other  who  so  nearly  justifies  my  ideal  of  a  missionary 
hero.  It  is  a  striking  token  of  the  real  love  of  the  Japa- 
nese for  him  that  they  retained  it  so  fully  in  spite  of  their 
differences  in  Theology.  Possibly  his  real  greatness,  his 
great  talent  for  leadership  and  his  executive  abilities  would 
have  had  more  scope  among  a  less  developed  people,  where 
missionaries  do  not  have  to  keep  themselves  so  much  in 
the  background." 

More  than  one  pastor  has  said,  with  Mr.  Miyagawa  of 
Osaka,  "  The  way  he  spent  himself  for  Doshisha  and  for 
the  church  was  more  than  we  could  understand.  If  the 
future  of  the  Kumi-ai  Church  be  written,  we  will  find 
many  missionaries  working,  but  among  them  Dr.  Davis  has 
a  first  place." 

Rev.  T.  Osada  of  Niigata  tells  of  the  intimate  fellow- 
ship enjoyed  with  Dr.  Davis  during  six  weeks  of  touring 
together  in  the  northern  island  of  Hokkaido.  "  We  trav- 
elled together  on  horseback,  in  springless  carts  and  on  foot, 
putting  up  in  rough  huts  and  cheerless  places  with  the 
poorest  food.  Dr.  Davis  said  that  it  was  true  '  roughing 
it,'  and  that  it  reminded  him  of  the  experiences  of  the  Civil 
War.  He  showed  me  how  to  roast  the  green  corn  which 
grows  there  abundantly,  and  we  ate  it  on  the  cob  together. 
Finding  some  apples,  he  got  a  kettle  and  stewed  up  some 
nice  apple  sauce.  He  rode  his  horse  with  the  skill  of  an 
experienced  rider,  and  said  he  had  learned  to  ride  on  his 
father's  farm,  before  he  went  to  the  army.  I  pounded 
along  behind  on  my  steed  with  much  awkwardness  and  dis- 
comfort, so  that  the  farmer  children  cried  out  with  glee  at 
the  contrast  in  our  riding.  The  similarity  of  scenery, 
forests  and  products  of  Hokkaido  to  his  native  country, 
rejoiced  his  heart,  which  he  opened  to  me  in  warmest  fel- 
lowship as  we  travelled  and  worked  like  two  brothers  or 
like  father  and  son  for  the  Master.  I  cannot  forget  such 
fellowship.  The  two  men  who,  more  than  all  others,  have 


RELATIONSHIPS  315 

made  me  what  I  am  today  are  Joseph  Neesima  and  Dr. 
Davis." 

Mr.  K.  Tsunashima,  in  the  Fukuin  Shimpo,  of  January, 
1911,  spoke  of  him  as  belonging  to  more  than  Japan,  to  the 
whole  Christian  Church;  and  as  worthy  to  rank  with  Henry 
Martyn,  Alexander  Duff  and  Davis  Livingstone  in  mission- 
ary history,  while  Dr.  D.  C.  Greene,  in  commenting  upon 
this  statement,  said:  "  I  think  the  same  thought  has  been 
in  many  minds." 

A  Japanese  pastor,  in  speaking  of  Dr.  Davis'  understand- 
ing of  the  Japanese  and  of  human  nature,  said:  "  Moving 
the  hearts  of  people  is  like  sinking  a  well:  after  digging  a 
certain  distance  one  comes  to  a  layer  of  rock.  If  that  can 
be  penetrated  abundant  streams  of  water  will  gush  forth. 
This  supply  of  water  is  the  Japanese  heart  which  a  few 
missionaries  know  so  well  how  to  touch.  If  the  well  digger 
would  go  deeper,  he  will  strike  another  layer  of  rock,  and 
penetrating  this  will  unseal  still  greater  supplies  of  peren- 
nial water.  This  deeper  spring  is  the  universal  human 
heart  which  Dr.  Davis  understood,  to  which  he  spoke  and 
which  he  was  able  to  move." 


CHAPTER  XXII 

RELATIONSHIPS:    HIS   MISSION 
COLLEAGUES 

DR.  Davis'  capacity  for  friendship  had  also  ample 
scope  for  exercise  in  the  circle  of  able  colleagues 
with  whom  he  was  associated,  as  well  as  in  the 
larger  missionary  group  of  the  empire.  He  was  generous 
in  his  appreciation  of  the  men  and  women  with  whom  he 
worked,  and  often  spoke  of  their  abilities,  consecration  and 
adaptation  to  the  work.  Those  constitutionally  opposed 
to  his  own  policies  he  credited  with  noble  motives  and  high 
abilities.  In  1879  he  wrote  to  Dr.  Clark:  "  We  men  had  a 
glorious  talk  the  other  night.  We  are  closely  drawn  together 
without  the  slightest  thing  separating  us.  It  would  be, 
indeed,  difficult  to  find  two  men  so  well  adapted  for  the 
work  or  who  are  such  jewels  to  work  with,  as  Mr.  Learned 
and  Dr.  Gordon.  You  may  as  well  know  that  we  have 
started  a  mutual  admiration  society." 

His  largeness  of  heart  and  quick  intuition  enabled  him  to 
understand  the  circumstances  of  his  friends  to  an  unusual 
extent.  Among  the  appeals  which  he  presented  to  the 
American  Board  for  his  colleagues  were  opportunities  for 
post-graduate  study  in  Europe,  longer  furloughs,  extra 
travel  grants,  larger  outfit  allowances,  more  comfortable 
homes,  endorsement  of  individual  enterprises,  such  as 
newspapers,  publication  work  and  special  study,  and  unusual 
financial  stress.  Among  the  American  Board  archives  were 
found  sixteen  separate  appeals  to  the  Prudential  Commit- 
tee for  generous  treatment  of  colleagues  who  were  under 
special  financial  strain,  and  in  more  than  one  case  he 
offered  and  actually  sent  to  the  treasurer  in  Boston  a  part 

316 


RELATIONSHIPS:    MISSION  COLLEAGUES     317 

of  his  own  salary  to  be  used  in  case  the  Board  should  be 
unable  to  act.  The  fact  that  during  thirty  years  of  cor- 
respondence with  the  Board  there  is  not  a  letter  found  in 
which  he  asked  for  generous  treatment  for  himself  is  one 
that  gave  a  peculiar  potency  to  his  appeals  for  his  friends. 

The  same  qualities  of  sympathy  and  intuition,  coupled 
with  common  sense  and  tact,  rendered  him  an  effective 
mediator  in  case  of  dead-locks  and  difficulties  in  the  work. 
He  was  often  called  upon  for  service  as  "  go-between " 
among  the  Japanese  and  between  Japanese  and  foreigners. 
Rev.  O.  H.  Gulick,  who  was  closely  associated  with  Dr. 
Davis  in  the  early  years  of  the  mission,  said:  "  He  was 
born  for  friendship  and  was  true  through  and  through.  To 
him  was  due,  in  large  measure,  the  substantial  harmony 
and  unity  that  characterized  the  American  Board  Mission 
in  Japan." 

The  late  Dr.  D.  C.  Greene,  senior  member  of  the  Ameri- 
can Board  Mission,  emphasized  his  capacity  for  friendship. 
"  From  the  first  day  of  his  arrival  Dr.  Davis  was  very 
near  to  me  and  helped  me  greatly  by  his  friendly  and 
sympathetic  counsel.  Although  I  had  been  two  years  in 
the  field,  he  had  larger  responsibilities  upon  his  shoulders 
and  was  more  mature  in  many  ways  than  I,  so  that  I 
looked  up  to  him  as  an  older  brother.  His  point  of  view 
was,  for  the  most  part,  identical  with  mine  and  we  were 
found  on  the  same  side  of  most  of  the  questions  of  mission 
policy.  The  breadth  and  heartiness  of  his  sympathy  was 
a  marked  characteristic.  No  one  in  perplexity  or  sorrow 
ever  turned  to  him  in  vain.  He  was  a  noble  man,  a  true 
and  faithful  friend  and  a  great  missionary. 

"As  darkness  brings  out  the  stars,  obstacles,  opposition, 
and  hostility  seemed  to  exhibit  his  brilliant,  clear,  shining 
Christian  character.  Probably  the  most  difficult  work 
that  he  ever  did  was  his  fight  for  the  Doshisha  in  the 
nineties.  If  he  and  Neesima  were  the  co-founders,  he  alone 


318  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

was  the  saviour  of  the  school.  No  one  else  could  have 
stood  in  that  breach  and  won  out.  The  moral  courage  dis- 
played was  greater  than  any  he  showed  in  the  Civil 
War,  or  anywhere  else.  His  heart  bled  when  he  had  to 
oppose  old  pupils  whom  he  loved  deeply.  The  wounds 
of  that  fight  healed,  but  he  bore  to  his  grave  the 
scars." 

Rev.  Henry  Loomis,  of  the  American  Bible  Society, 
wrote:  "  As  a  missionary,  he  had  just  the  qualities  that 
fitted  him  for  the  greatest  usefulness.  No  man  I  have  ever 
met  reminded  me  so  forcefully  of  President  Lincoln  and 
possessed,  to  such  a  remarkable  degree,  the  same  charac- 
teristics. Not  only  was  he  the  same  type  of  man,  but  he 
had  also  the  remarkable  gift  of  being  able  to  tell  stories 
that  were  inimitable  and  illustrative  of  the  subject  like 
nothing  else." 

Dr.  James  H.  Ballagh,  of  the 'Reformed  Church,  with  a 
half -century  of  missionary  experience  in  Japan,  says  of 
him:  "  In  his  labors  for  the  direct  evangelization  of  the 
people,  the  establishment  of  the  church  and  the  deepening 
of  the  piety  of  Christian  workers,  as  well  as  in  education 
and  sound  evangelical  doctrine,  he  was  a  mighty  power  for 
good.  No  one  was  ever  at  a  loss  to  know  where  he  stood." 

The  secretaries  of  the  American  Board  relied  upon  and 
expressed  their  confidence  in  his  judgment.  In  the  early 
years  of  reaction,  Dr.  N.  G.  Clark  replied  to  a  letter  from 
Dr.  Davis  which  expressed  anxiety  over  the  outlook:  "  If  we 
cannot  do  what  we  would,  let  us  do  what  we  can  and  trust 
God  for  the  rest.  I  think  I  have  had  no  statement  of 
missionary  principles  touching  Japan  which  I  could  so 
heartily  accept  through  and  through  as  I  find  in  this  letter 
of  yours.  Now  let  me,  personally,  thank  you  for  all  your 
effort  for  Japan  during  these  twenty  years." 

Upon  Dr.  Davis'  death,  Secretary  Barton  wrote:  "  How 
we  shall  miss  him  in  connection  with  Japan!  From  the 


RELATIONSHIPS:    MISSION  COLLEAGUES     319 

very  first  day  that  I  came  into  this  office,  I  was  brought 
more  or  less  into  connection  with  him,  and  in  all  Japanese 
matters  we  have  relied  greatly  upon  his  judgment.  I  do 
not  know  that  at  a  single  point  any  action  has  been  taken  by 
this  Board  contrary  to  his  judgment  and  advice;  certainly 
not  when  we  knew  it." 

One  of  Dr.  Davis'  striking  qualities  was  enthusiasm.  It 
showed  in  his  walk,  in  his  speech  and  in  his  writings. 
Though  sometimes  a  source  of  amusement  to  his  friends, 
this  quality  was  undoubtedly  one  source  of  his  influence. 
As  one  of  his  colleagues  remarked,  "  His  strong  convictions 
were  contagious  and  carried  others  with  them.  It  was  hard 
not  to  think  that  what  so  good  a  man  so  strongly  felt  must 
be  surely  altogether  right  and  the  only  right  thing;  it 
seemed  almost  heresy  to  differ  with  him."  Rev.  Arthur 
Stanford  describes  this  quality,  "  How  grandly  he  retained 
his  youthful  enthusiasms.  His  latest  evangelistic  tour  was 
always  his  best,  the  last  book  the  most  inspiring.  He  saw 
men,  ideas  and  things  in  the  large.  He  was  often  seeing 
crises  when  no  one  else  saw  them  and  hence  he  often 
seemed  to  exaggerate  situations.  He  was  aware  of  this,  for 
he  once  said  publicly,  '  You  must  subtract  seventy-five 
percent,  from  what  I  say  to  get  a  fair  average,'  —  a  remark 
in  itself  an  exaggeration.  But  his  exaggeration  was  of  the 
oratorical  kind  and  had  to  do  with  opportunities  rather 
than  facts,  and  as  the  marksman  who  aims  above  the  bull's ' 
eye  hits  it,  so  he  usually  made  a  strong  impression  upon 
his  audience."  His  enthusiasms,  his  vivid  speech  and 
striking  utterances  rendered  him  good  company.  "  His  fa- 
vorite exclamation,  '  Great  Guns  and  Little  Injuns,'  "  says 
Dr.  Learned,  —  "indicated  one  of  his  prominent  character- 
istics. Life  was,  indeed,  to  him  a  campaign  amid  big  guns 
and  it  seemed  to  give  a  zest  to  life  to  have  him  in  com- 
pany; something  great  was  doing;  life  was  indeed  real  and 
earnest.  Possibly,  the  heavy  artillery  was  sometimes  too 


320  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

much  in  evidence  on  the  field;  that  is,  he  was  in  danger  of 
taking  things  too  seriously." 

He  felt  things  intensely  and  expressed  himself  accordingly. 
Such  phrases  as,  "  Now  is  the  time  to  bring  up  all  the 
reserve  we  have  with  God  and  with  men,"  were  frequent 
and  indicated  the  martial  trend  of  his  mind.  He  was  fond 
of  placing  a  money  valuation  upon  experiences  that  he 
specially  prized:  "  This  air  is  worth  five  dollars  a  minute," 
and,  "  This  view  is  worth  ten  dollars  a  minute,"  were 
phrases  often  heard  from  a  mountain  top  or  summer  excur- 
sion. "  We  got  into  the  city  by  the  skin  of  our  teeth  and 
hung  on  by  our  eyelids,"  he  exclaimed,  when  once  describ- 
ing the  entrance  of  the  Christian  movement  into  Kyoto. 
He  was  remarkably  alive  and  responsive  to  his  surround- 
ings. There  were  few  neutral  tones  and  colors  in  his 
spectroscope:  men  and  things  and  events  stood  out  clean- 
cut,  revealed  in  black  and  white  to  his  quick  imagination. 

His  conscience  was  developed  to  an  unusual  degree. 
President  Harada  of  the  Doshisha  tells  how  once  when  he 
had  sent  out  a  circular  letter  to  several  hundred  friends 
and  workers  with  insufficient  postage,  which  subjected  all 
the  recipients  to  the  postal  fine  of  one  sen,  he  could  not 
rest  until  a  letter  of  apology  accompanied  by  a  one  sen 
stamp  had  been  sent  to  each  person  whom  he  had  incon- 
venienced. 

Mr.  W.  M.  Vories,  of  the  Omi  Mission,  tells  of  a  discus- 
sion regarding  the  justifiability  of  falsehood,  which  one 
day  arose  at  the  table.  "  I  shall  never  forget  his  positive- 
ness  of  dictum,  as  pushing  back  his  chair  and  bringing 
his  hand  down  with  a  quick  gesture  he  exclaimed,  '  As  for 
me,  I  could  not  bring  myself  to  tell  a  lie,  even  to  save 
life.'  " 

His  character  showed  apparent  contradictions  and  para- 
doxical traits.  Offsetting  his  independence  and  seeming 
indifference  to  opposition,  was  an  extreme  sensitiveness  to 


RELATIONSHIPS:    MISSION  COLLEAGUES     321 

criticism  and  a  shrinking  from  placing  himself  where  he 
was  not  wanted.  There  were  few  things  that  he  feared 
so  much  as  an  unsympathetic  audience.  On  his  last 
return  to  Japan  on  the  Pacific  Mail  S.  S.  "  China "  in 
December,  1905,  it  fell  to  him  to  arrange  the  Sabbath  serv- 
ices, and  as  the  other  clergymen  on  board  excused  them- 
selves, he  assumed  responsibility  for  the  whole  service.  "  I 
did  not  want  to  do  it.  I  dreaded  it,  but  I  felt  I  ought  to 
bear  witness  to  the  Lord's  work  and  he  helped  me  in  it." 
The  same  terror  of  not  being  able  to  satisfy  those  whom  he 
served  led  him  to  request  to  be  allowed  to  do  deputation 
work  in  the  middle  West,  where  he  felt  at  home,  instead 
of  in  New  England. 

However,  general  attacks  or  criticism  of  missions  and 
missionaries  so  common  at  one  time  in  the  English  press 
in  Japan,  he  seldom  read  and  never  answered.  When 
questioned  regarding  the  matter  he  would  say,  "It  never 
pays  to  stop  to  throw  stones  at  barking  dogs." 

An  unusual  egoism,  not  to  be  confused  with  egotism,  was 
interwoven  with  a  modesty  and  self-effacement  that  stood 
in  strange  contrast.  "  This  egoism  was  a  result  of  his 
individualism,"  said  Dr.  Otis  Cary.  "  He  thought  much  of 
his  own  personal  duties  to  men  and  God  and  was  led  to 
speak  freely  of  himself  and  of  his  experiences  in  public,  as 
well  as  in  private,  but  without  self -exaltation.  One  of  the 
contradictions  in  Dr.  Davis*  nature  was,  on  the  one  hand, 
his  tendency  to  consider  that  he  stood  alone  in  matters  of 
faith  and  principle,  his  willingness  to  single-handedly,  as 
he  often  thought,  oppose  himself  to  the  general  trend  in 
the  religious  and  theological  world;  a  tendency  which 
grew  with  age  and  was  regretted  by  many  of  his  col- 
leagues, who  were  generally  closer  to  him  than  he  under- 
stood. He  often  spoke  and  acted  as  though  he  were  suffer- 
ing alone  over  some  of  the  distressing  situations  in  which 
he  was  placed,  when  in  reality  his  colleagues  were  experi- 


322  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

encing  the  same  pain  and  anxieties.  Opposed  to  this  trait 
was  his  unwillingness  in  matters  of  mission  and  station 
policy,  to  stand  with  a  small  minority,  or  to  have  a  di- 
vided vote  stand.  He  would  always  apply  himself  to  the 
problem  of  re-framing  the  motion  or  of  compromising  with 
the  opposition  until  a  unanimous  or  fairly  united  action 
could  be  reached.  I  cannot  recall  a  single  instance  of 
placing  himself  on  record  in  a  small  minority  vote  or 
against  a  generally  expressed  opinion.  It  was  not  that  he 
did  not  have  strong  convictions,  but  he  believed  in  yielding 
to  the  majority  and  was  willing  to  swing  over  and  loyally 
support  issues  which  he  could  not  in  the  first  instance 
endorse." 

He  shrank  from  prominence  and  often  held  back  from 
public  honors  that  were  his  due,  but  if  plans  called  for 
difficult,  unpleasant  or  humble  work,  he  was  ready  to  accept 
such  a  part.  A  fund  of  tenderness  and  reverence  for  the 
personality,  that  is  the  basis  of  all  true  culture,  offset  a 
certain  brusqueness  and  sturdy  indifference  to  the  dictates 
of  fashion  which  offended  some  on  first  meeting  him.  His 
courtesy  toward  women  was  rarely  equalled  by  those  who 
criticised  his  roughness.  He  felt  his  lack  in  these  things 
and  his  surprise  and  pleasure  were  very  great  on  being 
once  told  by  a  Southern  lady,  that  his  courtliness  to  women 
approached  more  nearly  the  standards  of  the  old  South 
than  those  she  usually  met  in  Japan.  Though  formidable 
as  an  antagonist  and  uncompromising  upon  matters  of  vital 
principle,  he  never  failed  to  honor  his  opponent's  reality 
of  conviction,  and  he  could  win  or  lose  in  such  a  way  as  to 
keep  the  respect  and  affection  of  those  whom  he  opposed. 
His  charity  toward  those  differing  with  him  enabled  him 
to  hold  men's  hearts  even  when  he  could  not  convince  their 
minds. 

A  quick  appreciation  of  beauty  in  every  form  was  a 
characteristic  that  enriched  his  life.  In  1888,  he  wrote  to 


RELATIONSHIPS:    MISSION  COLLEAGUES     323 

his  children:  "  I  have  been  thinking  much  lately  of  the 
beauty  there  is  in  the  world,  the  sky,  clouds,  trees,  the 
flowers  and  a  thousand  other  things.  If  we  could  only 
always  look  at  the  beautiful,  instead  of  the  ugly  things  of 
life,  and  at  our  blessings  and  not  our  sorrows,  we  should 
be  happier.  In  the  same  way  we  would  get  more  solid 
comfort  out  of  life  and  do  more  good,  if  we  thought  of  the 
sure  things  of  the  present  and  future.  There  are  too  many 
glorious  actualities  to  allow  us  to  grieve  over  'might  have 
beens,'  or  '  may  be's,'  in  this  world."  He  had  a  ready 
appreciation  of  the  lovely  art  work  of  the  people  among 
whom  he  lived.  After  describing  the  minute  labor  spent 
upon  the  damascene  and  cloisonn6  ware  of  Kyoto  which 
he  had  shown  to  visiting  friends  who  were  more  interested 
in  art  than  in  the  Doshisha,  he  said:  "  If  I  had  ten  thou- 
sand dollars  that  I  could  not  put  to  better  use,  I  should 
like  to  place  that  amount  of  beauty  in  my  home,  but  I  had 
rather  lay  up  my  treasures  where  moth  and  rust  do  not 
corrupt  and  where  thieves  do  not  break  through  and  steal. 
I  can  wait  for  the  furnishing  of  my  house  until  I  have  a 
more  permanent  one. 

"  The  beauty  and  symmetry  which  the  microscope  re- 
veals in  the  insect  and  vegetable  worlds  fill  me  with  awe, 
wonder  and  gratitude.  Some  of  the  structures  are  so  ex- 
quisitely beautiful  that  it  is  almost  a  pain  to  me  to  look 
at  them.  It  is  more  than  my  poor  body  can  endure.  If 
the  undevout  astronomer  is  mad,  so  is  the  undevout  micro- 
scopist." 

He  was  often  in  a  meditative  mood  regarding  the  future 
life  and  enjoyed  arguing  from  the  beauties  of  earth  to  the 
glories  of  heaven.  He  used  to  say:  "  I  get  as  curious  as  a 
boy  when  I  think  about  the  things  over  there."  Upon  the 
death  of  a  sister-in-law,  who  had  spent  years  in  his  home, 
he  wrote:  "  My  mind  has  dwelt  a  good  deal,  lately,  upon 
the  many  mansions  in  our  Father's  house.  It  is  certain 


324  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

that  the  spiritual  does  not  exist  for  the  material,  but  that 
the  material  universe  was  created  for  the  spiritual.  The 
hundred  millions  of  suns  already  charted  upon  the  maps 
of  the  astronomer  suggest  such  possibilities  of  the  man- 
sions which  may  be  our  home  through  the  eternal  years, 
that  I  look  to  the  life  and  the  study  and  the  work  there 
with  increasing  hope  and  zest  every  year." 


CHAPTER  XXIII 
RELATIONSHIPS:   HIS  FAMILY 

LACKING  as  it  had  been  in  his  own  training,  inti- 
mate self-expression  was  unnatural  to  Dr.  Davis,  and 
even  with  his  own  family  it  was  not  easy  to  open 
his  heart.  He  was,  however,  essentially  a  family  man.  In 
the  midst  of  a  morning's  work  he  would  join  in  a  game  of 
prisoner's  base  or  hide  and  seek  with  the  children  and  for 
the  time  outdo  them  all  in  boyish  exuberance  of  spirits.  He 
took  a  keen  relish  in  the  development  and  conversation  of 
his  little  children.  He  aided  his  growing  boys  in  their 
engineering  and  boat-building  schemes  and  even  planned  for 
them  a  coasting  trip  with  the  American  sled  to  the  top  of 
Mt.  Hiei,  seven  miles  away.  As  soon  as  they  were  old 
enough  to  climb  the  mountain,  his  boys  accompanied  him 
upon  the  annual  survey  of  the  summer  camp,  where  they 
helped  in  its  repair  and  camped  out  together  in  the  cedar 
forest.  To  a  very  unusual  degree  he  kept  in  touch  with 
household  problems  and  was  seldom  too  busy  to  get  out 
his  tool  box  and  make  repairs  and,  in  a  multitude  of  ways, 
advance  the  comforts  and  conveniences  of  the  home. 

His  habit  of  picnicking  one  day  in  seven,  was  another 
point  of  contact  with  his  children,  who  often  accompanied 
the  parents  to  the  beauty  spots  around  Kyoto.  Each 
child  had  his  load  to  carry,  and  woe  betide  the  one  who 
kept  the  party  waiting  after  the  appointed  hour.  Weather 
seldom  stood  in  the  way  of  a  promised  outing;  they  usually 
started  rain  or  shine,  greatly  to  the  credit  of  the  father's 
reputation  with  the  children.  A  camp-fire  dinner  of  roasted 
potatoes  or  corn  on  the  cob  would  be  followed  by  inimitable 
stories  from  his  own  experience  or  some  well-chosen  book, 

325 


326  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

The  homeward  walk  was  enlivened  for  small,  weary  feet 
with  marching  songs  and  mimic  evolutions,  while  now  and 
then  the  Captain  hid  behind  some  great  cryptomeria  tree 
or  stone  image  along  the  line  of  march  and  roguishly  put 
to  rout  his  whole  command. 

Dr.  Davis  took  advanced  ground  upon  the  question  of 
vacations  and  proper  measures  for  maintaining  health  in 
Japan.  He  did  not  criticise  those  who  considered  his  pre- 
cautions extreme,  but  contented  himself  with  the  principle 
that  time  would  justify  his  course  and  that  the  same  rules 
could  not  be  applied  to  all  men.  After  his  first  break- 
down in  1879,  he  learned  to  gauge  his  own  strength  and 
needs,  and  to  safeguard  them  became  a  part  of  his  religion. 
When  the  Board  felt  compelled  to  cut  off  vacation  allow- 
ances in  1879,  his  protest  was  sent  in  the  return  mail. 
"  This  travel  allowance  has  been  the  means  of  keeping  sev- 
eral of  us  from  breaking  down.  To  cut  off  this  $50.00  will 
be  a  saving  of  a  few  hundred  dollars  a  year  to  the  Board, 
but  I  fear  it  will  cost  you,  in  the  end,  many  thousands  of 
dollars  and  some  men.  I  shall  take  my  rest  each  Summer, 
if  the  heavens  fall,  but  others  will  not  get  the  change  they 
need,  since  they  will  try  to  rest  in  the  station  where  they 
live  because  this  appropriation  has  stopped.  You  might 
as  well  talk  about  the  generals  of  an  army  resting  at  the 
front  in  the  midst  of  an  assault  upon  the  enemies'  works." 

His  affection  for  Kyoto,  with  its  beautiful  environment 
of  mountain,  temple  and  lake,  grew  with  each  year.  On 
returning  from  his  last  furlough  he  wrote  to  his  family,  still 
in  America:  "  I  have  just  returned  from  our  walk,  and 
the  memories  of  those  who  have  been  with  me  on  it  so 
many  times  is  good  company.  But  the  old  mountains  at 
which  I  have  been  looking  for  thirty  years  are  also  good 
company.  I  cannot  be  lonely  on  Hiei;  each  nook  and  tree 
and  walk  is  peopled  with  memories  of  those  I  love  and  who 
for  thirty  years  have  walked  with  me  under  those  groves." 


RELATIONSHIPS:    HIS  FAMILY  327 

His  memories  went  back  to  the  first  summer  upon  the 
mountain,  in  1876,  when  after  receiving  permission  from 
Tokyo  to  spend  two  months  upon  Mt.  Hiei,  he  had  moved 
his  family  to  summer  amid  its  cool  groves  and  picturesque 
temple  ruins.  "  Within  a  day  or  two,  a  priest  who  lived 
on  the  mountain  told  me  that  we  were  on  temple  property 
and  must  move  off.  I  asked  him  how  far  the  temple  reser- 
vations extended,  and  he  said,  '  to  the  foot  of  the  mountain 
on  all  sides.'  I  showed  him  my  permit  from  the  Foreign 
Department  to  live  in  tents  for  two  months  on  Mt.  Hiei, 
but  he  said  that  made  no  difference,  we  must  move  off.  I 
told  him  we  should  Jiot  move  off  until  ordered  by  the 
Foreign  Department. 

"  The  next  day,  the  priest  returned  with  the  mayor  of  the 
village  that  had  jurisdiction  of  the  mountain.  The  mayor 
ordered  me  to  leave.  I  showed  him  my  permit,  but  he 
again  ordered  me  to  go,  which  I  refused  to  do  on  the  same 
grounds  as  before.  Soon  after,  an  officer  from  the  Province 
of  Shiga  came  up  to  look  into  the  matter.  Examining  my 
passport,  he  pointed  to  the  printed  regulations  upon  its 
back,  stating  that  it  was  limited  to  thirty  days.  I  showed 
him  the  written  statement  upon  the  face  of  the  passport, 
permitting  me  two  months'  residence  on  Mt.  Hiei,  and 
told  him  that  the  written  permission  took  precedence  of  the 
printed  rules.  He  replied  that  the  back  of  my  passport 
did  not  agree  with  the  face,  and  that  I  should  have  had 
them  correspond  before  coming  onto  the  mountain.  I  finally 
told  him  that  I  was  there,  as  stated  on  the  passport, 
for  health;  that  my  seven  months  old  baby  was  very  sick 
with  inflammation  of  the  bowels,  and  that  it  would  prob- 
ably prove  fatal  to  move  him  down  into  the  heat;  that 
I  could  not  move  at  present  and  would  not  until  ordered 
to  do  so  from  the  central  government.  He  went  back  to 
Otsu  and  began  telegraphing  to  Tokyo.  I  began  to  get 
anxious  about  our  situation, 


328  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

"  I  next  saw  an  old  priest  who  had  lived  long  on  the  moun- 
tain and  asked  him  if  he  could  not  show  me  the  lines  of  the 
temple  reservation.  He  refused  at  first,  but  with  the 
promise  of  a  reward,  agreed  to  meet  me  at  daybreak  and 
show  me  the  boundaries.  It  turned  out,  as  I  had  suspected, 
that  the  lines  which  had  until  recently  extended  to  the 
foot  of  the  mountain,  had  been  cut  down  the  previous  year, 
and  I  found  that  by  moving  our  tents  a  few  rods,  we 
would  be  off  the  temple  grounds.  I  reported  my  discov- 
ery and  willingness  to  move,  to  the  Otsu  official,  who  was 
entirely  satisfied,  and  although  the  priests  in  their  anger 
refused  to  let  us  draw  water  from  their  spring,  the  Otsu 
provincial  office  gave  me  permission  to  do  so.  Thus  after 
moving  our  tents  to  a  most  delightful  spot,  overlooking 
the  city  of  Kyoto  and  the  mountain  ranges  to  the  West, 
we  passed  a  restful  summer." 

Of  settling  the  summer  camp  in  the  rainy  season  and  the 
difficulties  of  getting  provisions  packed  up  the  mountain,  he 
wrote:  ''You  cannot  do  anything  in  this  country  without 
being  reminded  that  you  are  in  a  foreign  land.  I  had  care- 
fully packed  in  a  large  pail  what  is  left  of  our  pickled 
butter,  packed  on  a  California  ranch  a  year  ago  last  Spring, 
not  very  fresh,  but  better  than  what  we  get  here.  I  put 
in  enough  of  the  original  brine  pickle  to  cover  the  butter 
and  gave  it  to  a  man  to  carry  by  hand  with  some  crockery. 
When  the  pail  reached  camp,  all  the  brine  had  been  emp- 
tied out  '  to  make  it  lighter.'  This  has  not  improved  our 
butter.  These  things  are  not  worth  mentioning,  except 
to  let  you  see  the  small  side  of  our  lives.  We  have  an 
easier  time  than  Paul  did  in  his  missionary  work." 

Though  economy  was  practised  in  the  home,  it  was 
applied  so  carefully  as  to  cause  neither  humiliation  nor  dis- 
comfort to  the  children,  and,  if  luxuries  were  scarce,  there 
was  never  a  lack  of  the  best  things  of  life  in  food,  cloth- 
ing, books,  games,  pictures  and  music.  Dr.  Davis  was  a 


RELATIONSHIPS:    HIS  FAMILY  329 

master  at  finance:  never  too  busy  to  drive  a  bargain,  nor 
too  proud  to  save  by  the  use  of  ingenuity  or  self-denial. 
He  had  the  good  sense,  however,  not  to  entail  his  self- 
denials  upon  others  nor  to  expect  his  children  to  practise 
all  the  economies  that  appealed  to  him.  "  Do  not  count 
on  uncertain  sources  of  income  and  think  all  around  a 
question  before  spending,"  he  wrote  to  a  son  in  college. 
"  This  will  serve  you  a  good  turn  all  your  life.  I  have  never 
owed  a  man  a  cent  in  my  life,  unless  it  was  some  little 
account  that  could  not  well  be  paid  from  day  to  day. 
Make  a  point  to  have  from  three  to  six  months'  expenses 
ahead,  so  that  when  any  unexpected  emergency  arises  you 
can  meet  it  without  borrowing.  .  .  .  Anything  which  will 
make  me  more  efficient  for  my  work,  spiritually,  physically 
or  mentally,  is  a  legitimate  use  of  it." 

He  applied  these  principles  so  thoroughly  that  his  wife 
had  to  intervene  occasionally  between  his  conscience  and 
himself.  He  enjoyed  telling  of  the  overcoat  which  after 
having  worn  for  seven  winters  he  had  had  turned  and  used 
seven  years  longer.  Half  apologetically,  he  would  add,  "  I 
could  have  worn  it  a  good  deal  longer,  but  that  the  elbows 
and  sleeves  were  worn  through  from  the  thousands  of  miles 
of  rubbing  on  the  arms  of  jinrickshas." 

He  was  accustomed  to  travel  third-class  upon  many  of 
his  railway  trips.  A  friend  living  in  the  far  north  tells 
of  how  upon  leaving  him  after  an  evangelistic  tour,  Dr. 
Davis,  at  the  railway  station,  handed  him  five  yen  for  the 
local  work  and  then  bought  a  third-class  ticket  for  Tokyo. 
"  It  made  a  deep  impression  upon  me.  In  other  words,  he 
presented  me  with  thirty  hours  of  comfort  to  help  our 
work."  Although  for  twelve  years  the  trunk  lines  in  Japan 
had  provided  sleeping  cars,  until  within  a  few  months  of 
his  death  Dr.  Davis  had  never  used  one.  When  he  finally 
did,  it  was  through  the  mistake  of  the  porter,  who  had 
been  told  to  arrange  a  place  in  the  ordinary  car,  but  made 


330  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

up  a  berth  for  him  instead.  Since  the  bill  was  already 
made  out,  he  did  not  trouble  them  to  have  it  changed, 
and  slept  in  a  sleeper  for  the  first  time  in  Japan. 

The  death  of  his  first  wife  and  the  separation  from  his 
children  revealed  a  new  tenderness  in  his  letters.  He  de- 
termined not  to  lose  his  children,  and  threw  himself  un- 
reservedly into  the  weekly  letter,  which  for  twenty  years 
spanned  the  ocean  and  continent  that  lay  between  them. 
He  tried  to  help  his  children  in  their  problems  by  suggest- 
ing wise  principles  of  action,  but  final  decisions  were  left 
to  them.  Even  if  he  could  not  approve  of  the  wisdom  of 
their  choices,  he  honored  their  judgment  and  sympatheti- 
cally backed  their  plans.  He  strongly  disapproved  his  son's 
playing  football,  but  rejoiced  with  him  in  the  success  of  his 
team,  and  added,  "  I  am  reconciled  to  your  having  played 
this  season  now  that  you  have  stood  well  in  your  studies 
and  have  not  broken  your  neck."  When  one  of  his  sons 
persisted  in  a  summer  in  Swiss  Alpine  climbing,  against 
his  father's  judgment,  Dr.  Davis,  finally,  sent  him  one 
hundred  dollars,  as  a  margin  of  safety,  and  heartily  sym- 
pathised with  him  in  the  joys  of  the  experience. 

His  own  dread  of  proving  a  burden  to  his  friends  is 
reflected  in  a  large  number  of  letters,  urging  his  children  to 
show  consideration  toward  those  from  whom  they  received 
kindness  and  hospitality.  "  I  hope  that  you  will  try  to 
be  as  helpful  as  possible  wherever  you  visit  this  Summer. 
Take  nothing  as  your  right  or  as  a  matter  of  course.  Do 
not  expect  others  to  wait  upon  you,  and  when  you  see  that 
people  are  doing  their  own  work,  to  which  you  add,  be  sure 
to  do  your  part  of  it." 

Even  more  did  he  urge  that  quality  which  was  so  closely 
related  to  his  own  success.  "  I  hope  that  you  will  hold  on 
in  your  work  till  the  end  of  your  contract.  Not  only  will 
your  reputation  be  affected  by  this,  but  what  is  worth  far 
more,  the  foundation  of  real  reputation,  your  character  will 


RELATIONSHIPS:    HIS  FAMILY  331 

be  affected  by  it.  It  is  generally  best  to  stick  to  one's 
decisions,  especially  in  a  public  contract,  where  one  has 
carefully  considered  the  matter.  The  bent  of  mind  which 
will  hold  on  and  hold  in  and  hold  out,  in  the  face  of  great 
difficulties,  is  one  of  the  chief  secrets  of  success." 

When  the  war  with  Spain  broke  out,  in  1898,  and  his 
son  who  was  in  college  wished  to  enlist,  Dr.  Davis  wrote: 
"  I  see  that  President  McKinley  has  called  out  100,000 
volunteers.  I  hope  that  you  will  go  on  with  your  studies 
calmly  in  the  midst  of  this  excitement.  This  is  not  going 
to  be  a  great  war.  Men  in  your  position  and  with  your  life 
purpose  are  not  called  to  enlist  until  the  country  absolutely 
needs  them.  There  are  a  thousand  whose  going  is  not 
likely  to  break  up  life  plans,  where  there  is  one,  like  you, 
whose  going  is  apt  to  do  this.  Be  ready  to  go  if  you  are 
needed  to  save  the  country,  but  do  not  go  because  there  is 
a  chance.  You  can  serve  your  country  best  by  staying 
where  you  are  and  preparing  for  service  in  a  higher  battle. 
You  are  the  son  of  a  soldier,  but  you  are  the  son  of  a 
soldier  who  did  not  go  until  it  became  evident  that  his 
country  would  be  lost  if  he  did  not  fight,  and  who  also 
lay  awake  for  joy  all  the  first  night  after  the  order  came  to 
be  mustered  out  of  service.  War  is  '  hell  on  earth  ' ;  keep 
out  of  it  if  you  can." 

He  aimed  that  his  children  should  realize  the  value  of 
their  opportunities  and  the  moral  responsibilities  which 
such  opportunities  carried  with  them.  "  These  are  priceless 
years.  They  will  never  come  back.  If  General  Grant  had 
realized,  when  a  cadet  at  the  Military  Academy,  that  he 
was  to  command  the  armies  of  the  United  States,  he  would 
probably  have  studied  harder  than  he  did.  You  may  be 
called  upon  to  take  an  active  part  in  a  conflict  even  greater 
than  the  Civil  War,  a  conflict  whose  issue  will  be  the  mak- 
ing of  the  kingdoms  of  this  world  the  kingdoms  of  our 
Lord  and  of  his  Christ."  However  deep  the  impression  of 


332  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

such  letters,  it  was  the  life  behind  them  which  was  a 
stronger  argument  than  the  father  could  know  for  deter- 
mining the  life  principles  of  his  children.  Those  who  know 
him  best  are  not  surprised  that  five  of  his  six  children 
have  chosen  their  father's  calling  of  foreign  missionary 
service.1 

The  devotion  of  Livingstone  had  fired  his  imagination 
and  fixed  his  interest  in  the  dark  continent.  As  a  young 
man  he  had  said:  "  If  I  had  two  lives  I  would  put  one 
into  Africa."  When  the  question  of  his  eldest  daughter's 
location  in  missionary  work  was  finally  decided  in  favor  of 
Africa,  there  was  not  a  tinge  of  regret  in  his  letters.  "  I 
have  always  wanted  to  put  one  life  into  Africa;  now  per- 
haps I  can,  through  my  daughter." 

He  was  extremely  fond  of  biography,  especially  of  great 
missionaries.  Duff,  Martyn,  Carey,  Livingstone,  Morrison, 
Xavier,  Wilfrid  and  Bernard  of  Clairvaux  were  among  the 
lives  to  which  he  often  turned  for  inspiration.  January 
1st,  1900,  he  wrote:  "  I  have  been  reading  the  lives  of 
Austin  Phelps,  Hamlin  and  Duff  recently,  and  very  rich 
reading  they  are.  I  enjoy  true  biography  much  better  than 
fiction.  It  is  marvellous  to  see  how  the  life  of  one  man 
like  Duff,  impinging  on  a  great  continent  as  India,  changes 
its  history.  His  success  came  from  his  loyalty  to  God's 
word  and  his  determination  that  it  should  be  taught  in  his 
schools." 

As  children,  we  both  feared  and  adored  our  father. 
Usually,  one  word  from  his  compressed  lips  or  a  glance  of 
his  penetrating  eye  was  enough  to  cut  short  childish  law- 
lessness. It  was  not  that  his  punishments  were  severe;  he 
seldom  punished  us,  but  his  disapproval  and  sorrow  at 
our  wrongdoing  were  too  intense  to  arouse  carelessly. 
The  other  side  of  that  strong  nature,  the  tenderness,  like 

1  Mrs.  F.  B.  Bridgman  of  Johannesburg,  So.  Africa,  Mrs.  C.  B.  Olds,  of  Niigata 
Japan,  Mrs.  R.  E.  Chandler,  of  Tientsin,  China,  Mr.  J.  D.  Davis,  of  Union  Theological 
Seminary,  N.  Y.,  and  J.  M.  Davis  of  Tokyo,  Japan. 


RELATIONSHIPS:    HIS  FAMILY  333 

a  woman's,  with  which  he  cared  for  our  delicate  mother  or 
nursed  us  when  sick,  few  were  privileged  to  understand. 
He  relied  upon  the  best  medical  skill  obtainable,  but  he 
also  believed  in  the  duty  of  the  parent  in  the  care  of  the 
child,  for  he  had  an  unusual  sense  of  his  accountability  to 
God  for  the  lives  and  destiny  of  those  who  were  entrusted 
to  his  fatherhood.  This  acceptance  of  responsibility  for  his 
family,  its  welfare,  physical,  intellectual  and  spiritual,  was 
the  dominant  note  in  his  home  relationships. 

To  his  aged  father,  past  ninety  years,  he  wrote  tenderly 
each  month.  "October  31st,  1888.  Dear  Father:  —  I  am 
wondering  how  it  is  with  you.  If  you  could  have  been 
in  our  home  the  last  few  weeks  you  would  have  enjoyed 
our  beautiful  weather  and  scenery,  for  the  maples  are  now 
coming  into  the  glory  of  their  Autumn  tints.  If  this  world 
is  so  beautiful  what  will  the  palace  of  the  King,  the  many 
mansions  our  Saviour  is  preparing  for  us,  be  ?  One  of  the 
first  year  men  brought  his  old  father  here  this  morning.  He 
lives  five  hundred  miles  from  here  and  has  never  heard  of 
the  Truth  until  recently,  but  he  seems  very  ready  to  hear. 
It  was  touching  to  see  how  eager  the  son  is  to  have  his 
father  find  Christ.  It  was  a  great  joy  to  talk  and  pray 
with  this  old  man  who  is  so  near  eternity.  I  am  glad  I 
can  do  something  for  the  fathers  here,  if  I  am  too  far  to 
be  of  much  comfort  to  you." 


CHAPTER  XXIV 
LAST  YEARS 

THE  new  century  opened  with  much  promise  for  the 
Christian  Movement  in  Japan.  The  era  of  reaction 
had  reached  its  limit  and  the  nation  was  beginning 
to  adjust  itself  to  the  influences  which  had  temporarily 
upset  its  equilibrium.  The  granting  of  reciprocal  treaty 
uprights  by  western  powers  and  the  abolishing  of  extra-terri- 
torial courts  had  done  much  to  allay  the  anti-foreign  feel- 
ing, while  the  promulgation  of  a  national  constitution,  the 
convening  of  an  imperial  parliament  and  the  granting  of  a 
limited  franchise  to  the  people  had  all  acted  as  steadying 
influences.  The  conviction  was  growing  in  the  nation  that 
it  was  essential,  not  only  to  conserve  the  moral  and  spiri- 
tual forces  of  Japan,  but  frankly  to  accept  and  use  the  best 
that  the  West  had  to  offer,  in  every  department  of  life. 

A  new  faith  and  sense  of  security  and  hope  for  the  future 
was  increasing  among  Christian  leaders,  with  the  growing 
independence  of  the  Japanese  Church,  and  there  now  stead- 
ily developed  within  the  Church  not  only  an  appreciation  of 
its  own  powers,  but  a  deepening  realization  of  its  own 
shortcomings  and  its  heed  of  the  vital  forces  of  spiritual 
power.  With  the  sources  of  friction  and  jealousy  between 
the  missionaries  and  their  Japanese  colleagues  largely  re- 
moved, a  new  period  of  cooperation,  of  mutual  dependence 
upon  one  another  for  the  accomplishment  of  the  great  task 
before  the  Church,  was  now  entered. 

The  third  General  Conference  of  Protestant  Missionaries 
in  Japan  was  convened  in  October,  1900,  in  Tokyo.  This 
conference,  of  which  Dr.  Davis  was  elected  chairman,  was, 
for  the  four  hundred  and  fifty  missionaries  gathered  in  its 

334 


LAST  YEARS  335 

sessions  a  recapitulation  of  the  failures,  the  difficulties 
and  achievements  of  the  previous  decade  and  a  council 
of  war  for  the  new  century. 

The  introductory  remarks  of  the  chairman  in  his  opening 
address  were  indicative  of  the  spirit  of  the  gathering:  — 
"  The  time  and  place  of  this  Missionary  Conference  em- 
phasize its  importance.  We  meet  just  as  the  fading  light 
of  the  Nineteenth  Century  is  verging  into  the  dawn  of 
the  Twentieth.  The  century  just  closing  has  witnessed 
the  development  of  modern  missions  from  their  birth,  to  the 
magnificent  proportions  in  which  they  appeared  at  the 
Ecumenical  Council  in  New  York,  last  April.  We  may 
hope  that  the  century  upon  which  we  are  soon  to  enter 
will  see  the  '  Kingdoms  of  this  world  become  the  King- 
doms of  our  Lord  and  of  His  Christ.' 

"  We  meet  here  in  this  eastern  gateway  of  the  Orient, 
among  people  who  are  to  have  a  powerful  influence  in  the 
civilization,  and,  as  we  may  also  believe,  in  the  Christian- 
ization  of  eastern  Asia.  In  every  effort  that  we  put  forth 
for  the  Christianization  of  Japan,  we  should  be  stimulated 
by  the  thought  that  each  wave  set  in  motion  here  will 
move  on,  affecting  directly  or  indirectly  hundreds  of  mil- 
lions of  people. 

14  This  is  the  third  general  conference  held  in  Japan.  The 
first  was  held  in  Yokohama,  twenty-eight  years  ago  this 
month.  The  less  than  twenty  missionaries  who  attended  it 
comprised  nearly  all  who  were  then  in  Japan.  Neither  God's 
Word  or  other  Christian  literature  existed  in  the  Japanese 
language.  The  edicts  against  Christianity  were  posted  on 
all  the  bulletin  boards  of  the  empire.  Hardly  a  beginning 
had  been  made  in  evangelistic  work. 

"The  second  conference  was  held  in  Osaka,  seventeen 
years  ago.  The  foundation  had  been  laid  and  that  confer- 
ence was  followed  by  a  general  outpouring  of  God's  Spirit 
and  a  period  of  great  ingathering.  We  have  now  passed 


336  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

through  a  period  of  reaction.  Nationalistic  and  rational- 
istic waves  have  swept  over  the  Church  and  chilled  it. 
Signs  are,  however,  everywhere  apparent  of  renewed  life 
and  hope  and  zeal.  We  have  every  encouragement,  as  we 
meet  in  this  third  general  conference,  to  ask  for  and  to 
expect  and  to  prepare  to  receive  great  things  from  God's  hand. 
I  trust  that  we  all  come  together  here  with  this  faith  and 
hope,  and  that  this  will  be  the  keynote  of  all  the  meetings." 

This  general  conference  was  effective  in  fixing  attention 
upon  the  Twentieth  Century  Union  Forward  Evangelistic 
Movement,  in  which  nearly  all  of  the  churches  in  Japan 
united  for  a  sustained  effort  during  the  opening  year  of  the 
new  century.  District  committees  were  organized  in  all 
parts  of  the  empire,  working  in  cooperation  with  the  cen- 
tral committee. 

The  activity  of  laymen  in  individual  work,  in  distribu- 
tion of  tracts  and  in  street  services  was  a  marked  feature 
of  the  campaign. 

On  December  14th,  a  great  thanksgiving  service,  at 
which  reports  of  the  year's  work  were  received,  was  held  in 
Tokyo.  The  principal  addresses  of  the  meeting  were  given 
by  Rev.  (later  Bishop)  Y.  Honda  and  Dr.  Davis,  upon  the 
subject  of  training  enquirers.  The  work  had  been  carried 
on  in  forty-two  provinces,  by  twenty-two  denominations 
and  by  five  hundred  and  thirty-six  workers,  representing 
three  hundred  and  seventy-six  churches.  Over  600,000 
tracts  were  distributed  and  upwards  of  ten  thousand  yen 
was  raised.  Twenty  thousand  persons  were  enrolled  as 
enquirers  after  the  Truth. 

Dr.  Davis  threw  himself  with  great  energy  into  this 
movement.  As  a  member  of  the  central  committee  of 
management,  as  a  speaker  for  central  Japan  and  as  one  of 
the  union  committee  for  the  Kyoto  district  and  as  chair- 
man of  the  committee  for  training  enquirers,  his  heart  and 
time  were  thus  largely  occupied  for  two  years. 


LAST  YEARS  337 

Prominent  among  the  results  of  the  Union  Evangelistic 
Movement  were  the  attention  awakened  by  Christianity 
among  all  classes,  the  impetus  given  toward  church  union, 
the  quickened  spiritual  life  of  the  church  and  its  recogni- 
tion of  responsibility  for  evangelizing  Japan,  the  new  con- 
ception of  the  size  of  the  task  before  the  Church,  the  im- 
petus toward  self-support  and  the  new  realization  of  the 
power  of  the  united  Church  of  Christ  which  such  a  pro- 
longed, common  effort  aroused  on  every  side. 

Weaknesses,  emphasized  by  the  campaign,  were  the  need 
of  better  methods  for  conserving  and  training  enquirers; 
the  need  of  more  personal  work  and  systematic  Bible  study; 
the  need  of  a  greater  emphasis  upon  the  sinful  condition 
of  men  and  their  need  of  a  Saviour;  the  need  of  a  greater 
continuity  of  preaching,  more  logical  presentation  of  truth 
and  of  pushing  out  into  unoccupied  fields. 

In  October,  1901,  a  pleasing  surprise  came  to  Dr.  Davis, 
in  the  form  of  an  invitation  to  preach  the  Communion  Ser- 
mon at  the  District  Conference  of  the  Kumi-ai  Churches 
held  in  Nagoya.  For  years  no  missionary  had  been  asked 
to  preach  on  such  an  occasion.  "It  seems  strange  that  I, 
the  oldest  missionary  in  our  group,  who  have  been  so  much 
criticised  and  opposed  by  the  Japanese,  should  be  singled 
out  to  give  this  sermon.  It  shows  how  the  tide  is  turn- 
ing." 

The  rise  of  the  Doshisha  after  its  temporary  eclipse  was 
rapid.  When  President  Saibara  left  for  America,  early  in 
1902,  Hon.  Kenkichi  Kataoka,  President  of  the  Lower 
House  of  Parliament,  was  the  choice  of  the  Trustees  as  his 
successor.  This  remarkable  Christian  statesman  was  in 
every  way  worthy  of  the  best  traditions  of  the  Doshisha. 

While  running  for  a  parliamentary  seat  from  his  district, 
he  was  elected  an  elder  in  the  little  Presbyterian  Church  of 
Kochi,  of  which  he  was  a  member.  When  his  political 
supporters,  dismayed  at  the  local  prominence  of  his  Chris- 


338  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

tian  office,  urged  him  not  to  accept  it,  Mr.  Kataoka  stated, 
"  I  would  rather  be  known  as  an  elder  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  of  Kochi  than  as  Chairman  of  the  House  of  Com- 
mons." His  position  was  justified,  not  only  by  his  election 
from  the  Kochi  District,  but  later  by  his  elevation  to  the 
Presidency  of  the  Lower  House,  a  position  which  he  held 
for  ten  consecutive  years.  At  the  inaugural  dinner  given 
by  the  Trustees  to  their  new  President,  after  taking  the 
oath  of  office,  Mr.  Kataoka  suddenly  bowed  his  head,  with 
the  words,  "  I  want  to  pray,"  and  touched  the  heart  of 
every  man  present  by  the  depth  and  consecration  of  his 
prayer.  He  then  said  that  he  had  prayed  for  two  months 
that  he  might  not  have  to  take  this  position,  that  he  did  not 
feel  worthy  of  it,  but  that  he  could  get  no  peace  until  he 
had  decided  to  take  it,  for  he  believed  that  it  was  God's 
will  for  him. 

During  his  brief  term  of  presidency  there  was  a  marked 
gain  in  the  spirit  and  enrollment  of  the  school,  and  before 
his  death  the  following  October,  the  Doshisha  had  begun  to 
look  upward.  Dr.  Davis  attended  the  funeral  of  this 
Christian  statesman  in  his  home  town  of  Kochi,  in  far 
away  Shikoku,  and  preached  his  funeral  sermon,  and  later 
wrote  a  sketch  of  his  life  which  was  published  in  both 
English  and  Japanese. 

In  the  autumn  of  1901  came  the  Mott  meetings  and  a 
large  influx  of  Christians,  together  with  a  new  spirit  in  the 
Doshisha.  The  next  year,  Dr.  Davis  wrote:  "  It  is  an 
inspiration  to  see  the  Doshisha:  the  Chapel  full  every 
morning  at  Prayers,  with  monitors  checking  the  attendance 
of  each  man.  Dr.  Nakaseto  is  Superintendent  of  the  Sun- 
day school  and  is  taking  a  great  interest  in  the  spiritual 
training  of  the  students. 

"  President  Kataoka  has  his  rooms  adjoining  the  office, 
and  eats  and  sleeps  there  so  that  the  students  and  teachers 
come  to  him  freely.  Such  a  man,  taking  such  a  course,  as 


LAST  YEARS  339 

head  of  the  school,  lifts  it  right  up.  In  the  present  crisis 
of  his  Constitutional  Party  he  can  hardly  escape  one  more 
term  in  Parliament,  but  he  hopes  to  retire  in  the  near 
future." 

In  the  late  winter  of  1904,  Dr.  Davis  was  very  ill  with 
heart  difficulty.  For  a  long  time  he  hovered  on  the  border- 
land, despaired  of  by  his  physicians,  yet  when  conscious, 
himself,  cool-headed  and  determined  to  live. 

During  the  long  fight  for  life,  he  told  his  wife  that  it 
would  have  been  easy  to  give  up  and  die,  but  he  believed 
he  could  still  be  of  some  use  in  Japan.  His  daughter,  Mrs. 
C.  B.  Olds,  says:  "His  brain  worked  faster  and  better  than 
that  of  any  one  else  and  he  seemed  to  know  exactly  how  to 
manage  his  case.  His  recovery  was  due,  in  large  part,  to 
his  own  determination  to  get  well  and  to  do  everything 
possible  to  help  toward  that  end." 

On  leaving  Kyoto  for  the  home  land,  in  May,  he  was 
presented  with  gifts  from  the  students  and  alumni  of  the 
Doshisha,  together  with  an  address  of  presentation:  — 

"Our  beloved   Professor   Davis:  — 

You  entered  our  country  in  the  fourth  year  of  Meiji 
(1871),  when  the  nation  was  not  yet  awake  from  the  dream 
of  '  expulsion  of  the  barbarians,'  and  when  the  spirit  of 
hatred  of  foreigners  was  still  rampant.  This  was  more 
than  thirty  years  ago.  The  changes  of  the  fortune  of  the 
country  were  since  quite  wonderful:  namely,  she  has  passed 
through  the  Civil  War  of  1877,  the  Promulgation  of  the 
Constitution,  the  opening  of  the  Parliament  and  the  China- 
Japanese  War,  and,  lastly,  she  is  now  facing  in  arms,  Russia, 
the  Giant  of  Europe. 

You  have  breathed  the  air  of  Japan  more  than  most  of 
us;  you  have  witnessed  the  development  of  Japan  more 
than  most  of  us;  you  have  contributed  to  the  civilization 
of  Japan  more  than  most  of  us.  When  the  late  Mr. 


340  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

Neesima  returned  home  with  the  brilliant  idea  of  founding 
the  Doshisha,  it  was  you  and  the  late  Mr.  Kakuma  Yama- 
moto  who  understood  his  idea  best  and  helped  his  work 
with  the  most  enthusiasm  and  sincerity. 

When  by  the  loss  of  both  Mr.  Neesima  and  Mr.  Yama- 
moto  the  career  of  the  Doshisha  became  difficult,  it  was  you 
who  felt  the  greatest  pain  and  realized  the  hardest  blow. 
We  cannot  estimate  how  many  nights  you  were  sleepless 
over  the  cares  of  the  school  and  spent  the  whole  night  in 
prayer  to  God. 

Is  there  any  man  who  has  ever  trodden  the  campus  of 
the  Doshisha  and  perceived  your  intense  earnestness,  your 
profound  love  and  your  immensity  of  sympathy,  —  is  there 
any  man  who  is  not  captivated  by  your  personality? 

Now  that  prospects  of  the  Doshisha  are  becoming  bright, 
again,  we  are  unfortunate  in  having  you  become  ill.  On 
hearing  that  you  are  going  home  on  furlough,  it  is  our 
desire  to  present  to  you  a  cloisonne  vase  and  a  cut  velvet, 
as  slight  tokens  of  our  deep  gratitude  to  you. 

Kindly  accept  them  as  souvenirs  of  loving  devotion  of 
pupils  to  their  master,  and  be  assured  that  our  prayer  is 
for  the  heavenly  protection  on  you  over  land  and  sea. 

Yours  very  reverently." 

This  letter,  bearing  five  hundred  and  forty-five  signa- 
tures, including  every  member  of  the  Kumamoto  Band  and 
others  of  the  old  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Doshisha,  was 
a  striking  proof  of  the  entire  reconciliation  of  the  pupils  to 
their  old  teacher. 

Three  months  on  the  upper  waters  of  the  St.  Croix 
River,  on  the  edge  of  the  New  Brunswick  wilderness,  fol- 
lowed by  a  quiet  winter  in  Washington,  D.  C.,  restored 
much  of  Dr.  Davis'  vitality,  and  in  the  fall  of  1905,  just 
thirty-four  years  from  his  first  departure  for  Japan,  he 
returned  to  the  Far  East  for  his  final  term  of  service. 


LAST  YEARS  341 

His  last  five  years  were  a  fitting  culmination  of  his  life 
service.  They  were  years  of  comparative  peace  after  the 
storms  and  conflicts  of  a  generation. 

Though  not  without  misgivings,  at  times,  over  the  growth 
within  the  Church  of  theories  which  he  felt  minimized  the 
person  and  the  power  of  his  divine  Lord,  still  the  dominant 
note  of  these  final  years  was  that  of  profound  thanksgiving 
for  what  God  had  wrought  in  the  spiritual  temple  of  the 
empire.  He  rejoiced  in  the  steady  growth  of  the  Doshisha 
in  enrollment,  endowment  and  in  Christian  spirit.  The 
school  had  gained  all  of  the  privileges  previously  denied  by 
the  government,  the  alumni  had  rallied  to  secure  a  large 
endowment  fund,  and  active  steps  were  being  made  toward 
incorporating  the  Doshisha  as  a  full  university.1 

By  1907,  with  the  election  of  Rev.  T.  Harada,  of  Kobe, 
to  the  presidency,  a  complete  reconciliation  with  the  old 
friends  and  trustees  of  the  school  was  effected,  four  of  their 
number  returning  to  serve  as  Trustees  of  the  Doshisha. 

Even  more  remarkable  to  Dr.  Davis  was  the  love  and 
esteem  for  their  old  teacher,  expressed  by  men  whom  a  dec- 
ade before  had  been  bitterly  estranged.  This  seemed  to 
him  a  striking  tribute  to  the  uniting  power  of  Christ  and 
the  power  of  the  old  Doshisha  spirit  to  hold  its  men.  Illus- 
trative of  this  are  the  words  of  Rev.  Danjo  Ebina,  of 
Tokyo:  "  In  April,  1910,  I  was  asked  to  speak  at  Mission 
Meeting  about  the  fundamental  principles  of  mission  work. 
When  I  finished  my  speech,  Dr.  Davis  came  and  shook 
me  by  the  hand,  saying  that  what  I  had  said  was  exactly 
what  he  thought  and  that  that  was  the  only  way  to  bring 
the  whole  world  to  Christ.  I  shall  never  forget  the  leaping 
joy  at  that  time;  it  can  only  be  compared  to  an  affection- 
ate son's  heart  when  he  is  comprehended  by  his  dear  old 
father." 

1  In  1912,  by  the  addition  of  departments  of  Law  and  Economics,  the  Doshisha 
was  raised  to  the  rank  of  a  full  university,  and  stands  today,  with  its  six  departments 
and  thirteen  hundred  students,  as  the  first  Christian  University  of  the  Empire. 


342  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

To  one  who  had  but  a  short  generation  before  found 
central  Japan  without  the  Word  of  God,  without  a  Chris- 
tian church  or  school  or  a  single  Christian  believer,  the 
swift  and  triumphant  progress  of  the  Church  of  Christ  was 
compelling  evidence  of  the  presence  and  power  of  the  living 
God. 

His  belief  in  the  inherent  possibilities  of  the  Japanese 
Church  in  its  mission  of  leadership  in  the  Far  East  and  its 
missionary  potentiality  was  shown  on  many  occasions  in 
his  last  years.  At  the  Jubilee  Convention  in  1909,  cele- 
brating the  completion  of  fifty  years  of  Protestant  Chris- 
tianity in  Japan,  he  stated  that  the  Japanese  Church  was 
not  only  in  a  position  to  control  and  lead  in  its  own  devel- 
opment, but  that  it  should  now  reach  out  actively  for  the 
evangelization  of  Korea  and  China.  These  same  convictions 
were  strikingly  expressed  in  a  sermon  delivered  before 
the  missionaries  at  Karuizawa,  in  1909,  on  "  the  missionary 
possibilities  of  the  Japanese  Church,"  which  was  considered 
by  many  to  be  the  strongest  public  message  he  had  ever 
given. 

On  November  9th,  1907,  Dr.  Davis  again  took  the  oath 
of  office,  as  a  director  of  the  Doshisha,  and  was  made  one 
of  the  three  members  of  the  executive  committee.  His 
teaching  in  the  school  was  now  limited  to  courses  in  Evan- 
gelistic Theology,  Missions,  Revivals  and  kindred  subjects, 
but  the  greater  part  of  his  time  was  devoted  to  general  and 
personal  ministrations,  to  consultations  and  the  giving  of 
counsel  upon  various  subjects,  for  which  he  continued  to 
be  sought. 

As  the  years  drew  on,  the  reality  of  his  personal  Saviour, 
the  presence  of  the  Holy  Spirit  and  the  power  of  the  un- 
seen God  became  more  and  more  vivid  to  Dr.  Davis. 
Christ  formed,  to  an  unusual  degree,  the  focus  of  his  faith, 
God  the  underlying  background  of  his  life.  "  I  have  never 
known  anyone,"  says  Dr.  Sidney  Gulick,  "  in  whom  the 


REV.    TASUKU    HARADA 
PRESIDENT   OF  DOSHISHA,    1907 


LAST  YEARS  343 

life  of  Christ  formed  so  complete  a  center  for  his  religious 
experience.  To  him,  Jesus  was  God,  rather  than  the  man  of 
God,  to  draw  a  rather  minute  distinction.  In  the  midst 
of  all  his  trials  and  problems  he  turned  to  Jesus  with  a  con- 
viction of  his  presence  and  power  to  help,  which  was  very 
inspiring  to  me." 

This  vivid  realization  of  a  personal  God  was  supple- 
mented by  a  high  loyalty  to  God's  Word  and  gave  him  the 
sense  of  an  impregnable  position.  He  wrote  in  1900:  "  We 
must  each  decide  for  ourselves  what  our  personal  duty  is, 
in  these  trying  times,  but  let  us  have  charity  for  those  who 
differ  with  us.  There  is  one  great  consolation :  God's  truth 
will  not  be  overthrown  and  the  man  who  stands  with  these 
great  fundamental  truths  of  the  Gospel,  the  Gulf  Currents 
of  Scripture,  which  have  been  the  power  of  the  Church  in 
all  ages,  giving  it  its  victories,  that  man  has  eternal  truth 
and  the  infinite  God  with  him.  He  is  sure  of  victory." 

An  evangelistic  tour  through  Korea,  made  in  1907,  as  the 
representative  of  the  Kumi-ai  churches,  deeply  impressed 
him  with  the  spiritual  vitality  of  the  Korean  Church.  It 
aroused  in  his  heart  an  inextinguishable  hope  for  his  beloved 
Japan  that  it  might  share  in  the  blessings  that  were  being 
poured  upon  Korea.  On  his  return  to  Kyoto,  he  pub- 
lished a  booklet  on  "  The  Gospel  in  Korea,"  which  he  sent 
to  hundreds  of  Japanese  workers  in  the  hope  that  it  would 
stimulate  them  to  something  of  the  personal  work  and 
spiritual  activity  of  the  Korean  Christians.  He  began  to 
pray  and  study,  constantly,  upon  this  problem,  which  now 
became  the  center  of  his  thoughts,  conversation,  writing  and 
preaching.  He  made  an  exhaustive  study  of  the  subject 
of  revivals  and  their  governing  conditions  and  of  the  lives 
of  great  revivalists  and  their  writings.  The  number  of 
volumes  in  his  library  bearing  upon  this  subject  witness 
to  the  power  of  this  ambition  for  the  Church  of  Japan 
which  possessed  him.  He  said,  "  I  believe  we  should  look 


344  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

for  the  Church  of  Christ  to  move  forward  in  this  century 
with  accelerated  speed,  just  as  everything  else  is  moving. 
There  are  many  signs  of  this." 

He  published  the  results  of  this  study  in  "  Revivals, 
their  nature  and  history,"  "  Successful  Evangelistic  Work," 
"  Effective  Evangelism,"  "  The  Spiritual  Movements  of 
Christianity,  "  and  "  The  Missionary  Possibilities  of  the 
Japanese  Church."  He  delivered  courses  of  lectures  upon 
the  subject  of  revivals  in  several  of  the  Mission  Colleges 
of  the  country.  Pastors,  missionaries  and  schools  called  for 
the  distribution  of  his  addresses,  and  they  also  appeared  in 
missionary  magazines  in  England  and  America. 

In  the  spring  of  1910,  Dr.  Davis  was  appointed  a  dele- 
gate by  the  American  Board  from  its  Japan  Mission  to  the 
World's  Missionary  Conference  in  Edinburg.  On  the  eve 
of  his  departure  for  Europe,  in  company  with  President 
Harada  of  the  Doshisha,  he  had  a  long  interview  with  the 
Premier  Marquis  Katsura,  in  which  that  statesman  ex- 
pressed his  satisfaction  at  the  growth  and  moral  influence 
of  the  Doshisha,  and  his  appreciation  of  its  value  as  a 
source  of  culture  for  Japan.  He  also  expressed  his  confi- 
dence in  the  friendship  of  the  United  States  and  the  need 
of  fundamental  sympathy  and  understanding  between  the 
two  nations.  "It  was  an  inspiration  to  see  such  a  man  at 
the  helm  in  Japan  and  to  listen  to  his  earnest,  honest, 
heartfelt  words  of  sympathy  with  the  United  States  and 
desire  for  peace  with  all  nations.  He  authorized  us 
to  use  his  words  freely,  as  we  go  to  England  and 
America." 

At  the  Edinburg  Conference,  Dr.  Davis  made  a  short 
address  upon  the  "  Dependence  on  Prayer  and  the  Holy 
Spirit  in  Mission  Work."  The  long  overland  journey 
through  Siberia  and  Europe,  the  exhilaration  of  the  vast 
Christian  gathering  and  the  homeward  Atlantic  voyage, 
made  heavy  drafts  upon  his  failing  strength,  and  he  was 


LAST  YEARS  345 

glad  of  the  quiet  rest  that  the  summer  at  Lake  Webb,  in 
Maine,  afforded. 

Here  the  growing  heart  difficulty,  manifest  by  extreme 
distress  in  breathing  and  loss  of  sleep,  became  acute.  In 
early  September,  he  sought  the  help  of  Boston  specialists, 
who  gave  temporary  relief,  but  it  was  plain  to  his  friends 
that  working  days  were  nearly  over.  Against  the  judgment 
of  his  physicians,  Dr.  Davis  attended  two  sessions  of  the 
Centenary  Celebration  of  the  American  Board  in  Boston, 
in  early  October,  in  each  of  which  he  spoke  with  something 
of  his  old-time  vigor.  He  expressed  his  optimism  over  the 
outlook  in  Japan  and  his  conviction  of  the  urgency  of  the 
hour  for  a  vigorous  advance  if  Japan  were  to  be  won  for 
Christ,  and,  finally,  a  strong  hope  that  he  might  be  able  to 
return  to  his  post. 

But  the  old  warrior  had  sounded  his  last  charge.  Soojn 
after  the  American  Board  meeting,  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Davis 
travelled  to  Oberlin,  O.,  expecting  to  enjoy  a  visit  with 
relatives,  Dr.  and  Mrs.  E.  I.  Bosworth.  Dr.  Davis  reached 
Oberlin  on  the  26th  of  October,  in  a  state  of  collapse, 
strong  opiates  bringing  the  only  rest  and  freedom  from 
suffering.  Toward  the  end,  in  one  of  his  moments  of  con- 
sciousness, when  told  that  his  life  was  nearing  its  close,  he 
seemed  shocked,  for  he  had  steadily  believed  in  his  ability 
to  throw  off  the  illness  as  he  had  previously  done.  "  I  did 
not  expect  to  be  the  first  to  go.  I  would  like  to  have 
stayed  a  little  longer  for  the  sake  of  my  family,  but  it  is 
all  right."  When  asked  if  he  had  a  message  for  his  chil- 
dren and  friends  in  Japan,  he  replied,  "  I  have  no  other 
message  than  my  life;  my  life  is  my  message  to  my  chil- 
dren." A  little  later,  he  said:  "  The  Fourteenth  Chapter  of 
John  is  my  comfort  now.  .  .  .  The  hope  that  I  have  for 
my  family  and  for  myself  is  worth  more  than  the  whole 
world." 

"  We  were  all  gathered  around   the  bed  that  morning, 


346  DAVIS,  SOLDIER  MISSIONARY 

and  the  doctor  (a  classmate  of  his  oldest  daughter)  sat 
beside  him,  so  tender  and  kind,  I  could  not  but  think,  '  he 
is  taking  Clara's  place.'  Once  while  suffering  with  a  breath- 
less spell,  Genevieve  suggested  singing,  and  she  and  Burnell 
sang  together,  '  Jesus,  lover  of  my  soul,'  while  his  lips 
moved  and  I  believe  he  was  trying  to  join.  It  was  a  beau- 
tiful and  blessed  scene.  When  the  singing  was  ended  he 
said,  '  The  Lord  bless  you  all  for  all  your  goodness  to  me,' 
and  then  fell  asleep.  Toward  noon  he  waked  and  said, 
laughingly,  '  I  thought  I  was  passing  away,  but  now  I  feel 
as  bright  as  a  button.'  In  the  evening,  Cousin  Edward 
Bosworth  came  in  and,  standing  at  the  foot  of  the  bed, 
made  a  beautiful  prayer.  A  moment  later,  the  Doctor 
said,  '  It  is  better  in  Heaven,'  for  he  was  gone.  He  went 
so  gently  that  I  could  not  believe  that  he  had  left  us." 

At  the  simple  funeral  service,  preceding  the  interment  in 
the  Oberlin  Cemetery,  Dr.  Bosworth  paid  the  following 
beautiful  tribute:  "  These  many  miles  of  travel  have  made, 
as  it  has  turned  out,  a  kind  of  triumphal  journey.  There 
was  a  dramatic  fitness  in  his  presence  at  the  great  Edin- 
burg  Conference,  making  report  to  that  memorable  assem- 
blage of  almost  forty  years  of  service  in  Japan,  and  it  was 
fit  that  he  should  give  a  final  report  to  the  American  Board 
which  he  had  served  so  long  and  well.  After  these  forty 
years  he  has  crossed  his  Jordan.  .  .  .  He  had  a  good 
soldier's  readiness  for  surprises  and  suddenness  of  attack. 
.  .  .  Death  confronted  him  suddenly.  He  had  not  known 
until  a  day  or  two  before  the  end  that  he  could  not  live. 
He  adjusted  himself  instantly  to  the  situation.  Like  a 
good  strategist,  he  had  selected  an  impregnable  height  as 
his  life's  view-point,  and  when  Death  suddenly  appeared  on 
the  field,  Death  was  already  conquered.  To  him  Death  was 
a  mere  incident  in  eternal  life.  .  .  . 

"It  is  not  so  much  the  things  that  he  did,  the  honors  he 
received,  the  positions  that  he  held,  that  constitute  the 


LAST  YEARS  347 

great  features  of  his  life.  The  spirit  that  he  developed  was 
greater  than  all  else.  The  man,  himself,  was  greater  than 
anything  that  happened  to  him.  That  which  we  shall 
always  reverence  in  the  thought  of  him  is  the  way  in  which 
he  met  the  elemental  facts  of  life,  —  duty  to  others,  — his 
God  and  fellowmen  and  eternity.  He  and  his  family  in 
these  last  days  have  taken  immortality  as  a  matter  of 
course.  Our  household  can  never  fail  to  be  grateful  for 
the  lasting  blessing  that  has  come  to  us,  in  this  opportunity 
of  seeing  those  who  were  engaged  in  the  daily  practice  of 
immortality  face  death  with  fearless  composure. 

"  His  great  soldier-spirit  has  gone  out  into  eternity,  ready 
for  great  conquests  there.  He  must  have  read  the  opening 
verses  of  the  Fourteenth  of  John,  his  favorite  chapter,  with 
a  soldier's  sense  of  following  a  great  Captain  into  the  un- 
seen, '  I  go  to  prepare  a  place  for  you.'  His  spirit,  loyal 
and  fearless,  has  already  adjusted  itself  to  new  conditions 
and  is  already  at  work  upon  some  high  enterprise.  We  bid 
him,  '  Godspeed'  and  '  farewell,'  for  a  little  while." 

"  Then  from  the  dawn  it  seemed  there  came,  but  faint, 
As  far  removed  beyond  the  limit  of  the  world, 
Like  the  last  echo,  born  of  a  great  cry, 
Sounds,  as  of  some  fair  city  with  one  voice, 
Around  a  King  returning  from  his  wars." 


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